News

Retirement Planner's round-up of the top pension stories this week.

In this week's quick fire poll we ask: Age Partnership recently issued a warning about Property Protection Trusts. Are these trusts a significant problem?

Advisers and providers reiterated the "catastrophe" that would befall the advice sector if the incoming Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) read across a ban on commission in the retail investment market to protection.

Some agents selling Harlequin properties before March 2009 misled investors into thinking that their investment money would be held securely in ring-fenced accounts.

The acceleration of the introduction of the single tier flat-rate state pension to April 2016 has been confirmed by pensions minister Steve Webb.

Countrywide has announced it is to float on the stock market with an initial price of 350p per share, a figure which values the firm at about £750m.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed three chairmen, including the chief executive of Nationwide, to lead the independent panels set up to represent its constituents' interests and provide independent views to the regulator.

Politicians in Cyprus are considering exempting bank accounts with deposits of 20,000 euros (£17,000) or less from the planned country-wide levy.

LV= is reducing rates on its lump sum lifetime mortgage until Friday 12 April 2013.

UK CPI inflation rose from 2.7% to 2.8% in February as rising energy prices pushed the reading to its highest level since May of last year.