{"id":83,"date":"2013-04-24T10:39:53","date_gmt":"2013-04-24T09:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weknow0.co.uk\/?p=83"},"modified":"2013-04-24T10:39:53","modified_gmt":"2013-04-24T09:39:53","slug":"relax-luther-its-much-worse-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/weknow0.co.uk\/?p=83","title":{"rendered":"Relax Luther, it’s much worse than you think"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On 9 April, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published the <\/span>preliminary findings<\/span><\/a> of the quantitative impact study on its proposed changes to the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision Directive (or IORP II as some have started to call it). That sentence might not mean much to many people. But once you understand that EIOPA is the pensions regulator for the whole EU and that IORP is the European word for pension scheme you will probably be expecting bad news. And you would be right.<\/span><\/p>\n

The study showed that the combined deficits of the 6,432 defined benefit pension schemes in the UK as at 31 December 2011 would have increased from \u00a3300bn (the UK Pensions Regulator\u2019s calculated figure) to \u00a3450bn (based on methodology designed to bring pension funding more in line with insurance company reserving).<\/span><\/p>\n

The National Association of Pension Funds warned that this move would put a \u201chuge burden\u201d on remaining UK defined benefit pension schemes and the businesses that run them.\u00a0 <\/span>Steve Webb warned that \u201cThe EU\u2019s latest figures show the extremely high cost its plans would place on UK defined benefit pension schemes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Others were less positive about the proposed changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, I am reminded every time this story is reanimated by the latest stage in the unending dance of death of the European insurance and pensions legislative process, of the line Tom Cruise uses in Mission Impossible<\/em> to calm objections to his scheme to break into CIA Headquarters. It really is much worse than you think.<\/span><\/p>\n

IORP II was set in motion with 3 main aims:<\/span><\/p>\n