Papers

UP TO 2,000 more workers at the Abbey banking group will be made redundant on top of the 4,000 who have already gone, its Spanish owners said yesterday, reports The Scotsman .

NORWICH UNION owner Aviva finished 2005 with its strongest quarter of the year, reports The Scotsman.

THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE of Capital & Regional yesterday called on the Treasury to delay the launch of real estate investment trusts (Reits) in the UK, amid growing fears the new vehicles will fail without a radical revision of their proposed structure, reports...

ONE OF THE City's most respected fund management activists has warned of the potential power of the new state pension fund envisaged in Lord Turner's proposals for reforming the retirement system, reports The Guardian .

BRITAIN'S BIGGEST insurer was yesterday squaring up for a battle with the country's most powerful consumer body over the break-up of £3.3bn worth of assets, reports The Times .

STANDARD LIFE'S long-suffering policyholders were dealt another bitter blow yesterday after the firm cut its pay-outs on with-profits plans for the sixth consecutive year - this time by up to 18%, wrote The Scotsman .

A RISE IN the pension age is "inevitable" by 2020, John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said last night in a dramatic intervention that highlights the looming cash crisis, reports The Scotsman .

SALES OF tax-efficient individual savings accounts (ISAs) fell by 10% during 2005, despite net retail sales of funds outside the tax wrapper rising by 73% over the same period, reports The Scotsman .

THE HEAD of the UK's pension fund lobby has launched a stinging attack on the Turner proposals for reforming the pensions system, reports The Guardian.

SMALL BUSINESSES could receive a government subsidy to ease the pain of having to pay a 3% contribution to employees' pensions under the Pension Commission's proposals, Adair Turner, has told The Financial Times .