Source: Reuters France's Constitutional Council is due to deliver its verdict on Friday on a deeply unpopular bill which will delay retirement by two years to 64, and on plans for a referendum to challenge it. Here is why this matters and what could happen: VERDICT ON THE PENSION BILL * The Council can strike down the bill altogether if it considers it breaches the Constitution. Opposition parties have asked it to do so, for choosing to tack the [...]
By Bart Biesemans, Layli Foroudi and Ingrid Melander Source: Reuters Union activists barged into the Paris headquarters of luxury goods company LVMH on Thursday, saying the French government should shelve plans to make people work longer for their pension and tax the rich more instead. In a 12th day of nationwide protests since mid-January, striking workers also disrupted garbage collections in Paris and blocked river traffic on part of the Rhine in eastern France. "You're looking for money to [...]
Source: Pew Trusts Thanks to more than a decade of fiscal discipline, many state public retirement systems are on the cusp of long-term solvency and sustainability. Since the Great Recession, state policymakers have increased employer and employee pension contributions and changed benefit provisions. In some cases, they have also implemented reforms that have strengthened risk management practices, which can help keep costs relatively stable without increasing unfunded liabilities for future generations of taxpayers. However, volatile investment markets and high [...]
Source: The Economist The French government has decided to go ahead with a controversial pension reform that looks set to divide the country and spark social unrest. On January 10th Elisabeth Borne, the prime minister, unveiled the details of changes to the country’s mandatory pension rules. The fate of these measures will test Emmanuel Macron’s ability to continue to reform France during his second presidential term. The centrepiece is a raising of the legal minimum retirement age from 62 [...]
By Margarida Correia Source: Pensions & Investments Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has vetoed legislation unanimously passed in the House and Senate to reform the state's pension systems for teachers and state employees. In a letter to lawmakers on Monday, Mr. Scott rebuked the bill, saying it "does not include enough structural change to solve the enormous unfunded liability problems the state faces." He raised concerns that despite adding $250 million in additional taxpayer money, the state in several years [...]
Source: Benefits Canada Nearly half (44 per cent) of pension plan sponsors in the U.S. said they intend to review and/or renegotiate their plan’s management fees over the next one to two years, whether it’s custody fees (27 per cent) or investment management fees (17 per cent), according to a survey by consulting firm Callan. The survey, which polled more than 160 U.S. organizations representing 194 plans with more than US$975 billion in assets under management, found the average [...]
By Brian Croce Source: Pensions & Investments The SEC's division of corporation finance will not recommend enforcement actions related to a series of amendments to the proxy-voting advice rule that were finalized last year after Chairman Gary Gensler announced Tuesday that he asked the staff to consider recommending further regulatory action on the issue. In July, the SEC, in a 3-1 vote with Republicans in control, approved sweeping changes to rules governing proxy advisory firms. The rule amendments made [...]
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has said the government invoked a special clause in the country’s Constitution to push through a controversial pension reform plan without a parliamentary vote. Speaking at the Lower House of Parliament, Philippe on Saturday announced his decision to use Article 49-3 to make into law the government’s pension reform bill, reports Xinhua news agency. The French goverment has planned to replace the current pension system of 42 regimes by a point-based single one with [...]