PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - Nov 11

MOVE TO PROTECT PENSIONS OF HIGH EARNERS BLOCKED

The High Court has rejected attempts by pension fund trustees to buy annuities that would cover additional benefits that are higher than those guaranteed by the Pensions Protection Fund (PPF). The court case centred on the trustees of a pension scheme whose sponsoring employer entered administration in 2004. Lawyers said the ruling meant that trustees would be unable to take riskier business investment decisions in the future on the basis that "if it all goes wrong the PPF will pick up the pieces".

MAGIC CIRCLE LEGAL BILLS UNDER FIRE

A survey of more than 40 legal firms to be published in Legal Week magazine has found that leading "Magic Circle" lawyers often fail to provide predictable and value-for-money bills. The poll of corporate clients ranks the five traditional prestige firms -- Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Allen & Overy and Slaughter and May -- below average, highlighting increasing tensions over the issue of legal fees between big businesses and their solicitors. The findings reflect the rise in power of company in-house lawyers and cost-cutting measures triggered by the credit crunch.

TRADE DEFICIT FLAT AS DOMESTIC DEMAND GROWS

The Office of National Statistics has reported that the trade deficit increased marginally in the third quarter as import volumes rose faster than exports. The deficit shrank by 208 million pounds ($346.5 million) to 8.4 billion pounds in the three months to September, compared with a 1.2 billion pound decline in the second quarter. Import volumes increased at an almost 14 per cent annualised pace in the quarter, compared to a 10 percent rise in exports amid a pick-up in global trade.