£70bn increase in pension deficit under FRS17

With the fall in stock markets, the total deficit that UK companies will have to disclose under the new accounting standard FRS17 is estimated to have increased to £70bn by actuarial adviser Watson Wyatt. Although the full introduction of the standard has been postponed, companies will still have to disclose FRS17 figures in the notes to their accounts. The reason for the deficits is that UK company schemes invest heavily in equities.