EU drops “reckless” pension scheme funding rules

EU will make new proposals and will focus on transparency, governance, and reporting requirements.

10:29 25 May 2013

EU regulators have quit their proposal to make pension funding rules the same as with those banks and insurers, which could have cost businesses across Europe billions of pounds to make their pension schemes more financially secure.

 

European commissioner Michael Barnier, who is in charge of drafting business regulation, will make new proposals in the autumn which will focus on transparency, governance, and reporting requirements. 

 

Solvency II rules were originally designed for insurance companies however, regulators previously made the proposal to apply the same rules on the pensions sector. 

 

PensionsEurope, the European pensions-lobby group, reportedly agrees with the decision.

 

Meanwhile James Walsh, who leads EU and international policy at the NAPF, said that Barnier made the right decision, according to reports.