Pension shortfalls in the UK near £200bn (Fund News)
According to the Pension Protection Fund??s 7800 Index, a monthly tracker of the total assets and liabilities of schemes where benefits are insured, the total deficit of schemes with shortfalls stood at £194.6bn at the end of August, up from £179bn a month earlier. The PPF said that 85 per cent of all UK schemes were in deficit.
The US lost its number one spot to Switzerland in the WEF report on global competitiveness, partly because of ??particular concerns on the part of the business community about the government??s ability to maintain arms-length relationships with the private sector and in the perception that the government spends its resources wastefully?.
Deutsche Bank cited a ??regulatory event? to explain why it will redeem $425m in its PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Long exchange traded notes, namely that the product pushed against the limits on crude oil holdings on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The SEC's internal watchdog has concluded that the agency missed many chances to expose Bernard Madoff??s giant ??Ponzi? scheme because the staff either did not know what to do or failed to follow up on detailed complaints.