May 2026
06May

UK. Why we won’t see another pensions bill any time soon

The ink has barely dried on the finalised Pension Schemes Bill, but already attention is turning towards the next legislation that may hit the industry. Many of the Pension Schemes Bill’s elements require secondary legislation and industry consultations, which policymakers will be working on over the coming months. But there are other policy issues that could require legislation in the future, including the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) ongoing consultation on trusteeship and administration. Pensions Expert reported last year that the Pensions...

May 6, 2026
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April 2026
30Apr

UK. CDC code of practice laid before parliament as TPR clarifies comms role of trustees

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) may act against trustees if they fail to identify “unclear or misleading” communications in relation to collective defined contribution (CDC) pension schemes. TPR’s code of practice for CDC schemes was laid before parliament this week (29 April), ahead of coming into force around October this year. The regulator also published its response to the CDC code consultation, which closed earlier this year, and stated that it would hold trustees accountable for poor communications. This was an area...

April 30, 2026
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30Apr

Greece. ‘They treat me like a dog’ – 89-year-old opens fire in Athens office over long-running pension dispute

An 89-year-old man opened fire inside a social security office in central Athens and later at a courthouse, injuring five people. According to his own statements, the incident was driven by a long-running dispute over his pension and a sense of injustice. The shootings unfolded on Monday at an office of Greece's main social security body, EFKA, in the Kerameikos area of Athens. Five people were injured, including employees and members of the public, inside the building at the time. None of the injuries...

April 30, 2026
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22Apr

Emma Douglas named chair of UK Pensions Regulator

The UK government has appointed Emma Douglas as the new chair of The Pensions Regulator (TPR). Douglas will take up the role at a time of ongoing change across the UK pensions landscape, with the regulator continuing to focus on protecting savers while supporting innovation and market development, it noted in a statement. Her five-year term begins on 1 July 2026, when current interim chair Kirstin Baker steps down. Announcing the appointment, pensions minister Paul Maynard said: “I am delighted to appoint...

April 22, 2026
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10Apr

Ghana. NPRA moves to prosecute over 11 employers for non-compliance

The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) is tightening its grip on employers who fail to pay workers’ pension contributions, revealing that some 11 companies have already been taken to court over such violations. According to the Authority, these enforcement have led to the recovery of over GH¢27 million from defaulting employers' money that rightfully belongs to workers planning for life after retirement. But officials say this is only the beginning, warning that even stricter sanctions are on the way for those...

April 10, 2026
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07Apr

UK. Benefits and pensions rise as two-child cap ends

A host of benefits and the state pension are rising as the new financial year begins, including more money for larger families on universal credit. The two-child benefit cap has now been scrapped, meaning some 480,000 families with three or more children will get an average rise of £4,100 a year. One mum told the BBC the rise was a "massive help" in dealing with the rising cost of living, while charities have described the move as a "gamechanger". But some critics...

April 7, 2026
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March 2026
31Mar

US issues draft rules on private assets in 401k plans

The U.S. Department of Labor on Monday issued long-awaited proposed new rules intended to clarify how trustees can add alternative assets ranging from private ​equity to cryptocurrencies to 401(k) retirement plans. The measure, which is intended to ‌ease long-standing barriers to incorporating these less liquid assets in American retirement nest eggs, follows an executive order by President Donald Trump last summer and could clear the way for alternative ​asset management firms to tap a large and potentially lucrative new source ​of capital. Shares...

March 31, 2026
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31Mar

UK. PMI: Why a new pension system needs a new regulatory approach

The latest of the Pensions Management Institute’s (PMI’s) regular columns says the question is no longer how we regulate schemes, but how we regulate a system. For years, policymakers and the industry have anticipated defined contribution (DC) consolidation. That future has now arrived. Master trusts now dominate both DC membership and assets, smaller schemes continue to exit the market, and the landscape is increasingly shaped by a small number of large providers. Yet our regulatory framework still reflects an earlier,...

March 31, 2026
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19Mar

Banking and Financial Unions Challenge Joaquín Cortez’s Appointment as Superintendent of Pensions

Union organizations asserted that Joaquín Cortez's education at the Pontifical Catholic University and the University of Chicago "is not an anecdotal detail but a clear signal of his ideological imprint, the same one that shaped the individual capitalization system imposed during the dictatorship and turned pensions into a business rather than a right." In a public statement, the Confederation of Banking and Financial Unions expressed concerns over the appointment of Joaquín Cortez (featured in the photo) as Superintendent of Pensions,...

March 19, 2026
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17Mar

UK. Govt urged to carefully consider interventions in pension scheme investment

The government should carefully consider any intervention in domestic pension scheme investment and identify the specific ‘market failures’ it intends to address, a joint report from Frontier Economics and LCP has argued. The UK pension schemes and productive finance – a framework for effective intervention report argued there was no clear case for the government to override trustees’ judgments when acting in member interest, or to set top-down targets for total levels of ‘productive’ investment. It highlighted there were big differences in investment...

March 17, 2026
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