Papers

Hugh Osmond, pubs and pizza entrepreneur, is to take ownership of HHG's closed Pearl, London Life, and NPI life insurance funds, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Policyholders in the Equitable Members Action Group have petitioned the European Commission to start legal proceedings against the government over its failure to properly regulate, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Funding the Pension Protection Fund will cost double existing government estimates of £300m, according to new research The Daily Telegraph reports.

Bankrupt manufacturer Turner & Newall's underfunded pensions scheme could bankrupt the Pension Protection Fund in its first year of operation The Times reports.

Civil servants are going on the warpath over the proposed scrapping of their "gold-plated" pensions, threatening the biggest public sector strikes since 1926, The Times reports.

Yesterday's handouts are being viewed as just that by all papers today, with the largesse of the chancellor of the exchequer seen as a sop to voters ahead of an election sometime in the first half of next year.

LIFE INSURANCE and pensions software firm Marlborough Stirling yesterday announced the firm was up "for sale" and warned its recovery is taking longer than expected, says the Guardian.

House prices are set to tumble says Deutche Bank if the Bank of England does not lower rates soon, a view contrasting with Great Portland Estates group, which says it expects West End rents to gain next year, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Chancellor Gordon Brown's grip on UK economic policy is to be destroyed by the appointment of arch-Blairite Alan Milburn to head a new cabinet committee challenging for control over issues such as pensions and savings policies, reports The Scotsman.

Standard Life has confirmed it is cutting commissions to IFAs on sales of low-value pensions, and it could soon be followed by Scottish Equitable, The Scotsman reports.