AEGON builds on first quarter success with Poland merger approval

European Pensions - Monday 20th May, 2013

AEGON, the life insurance and pensions company, has reported a nine per cent rise in underlying earnings before tax in its first quarter 2008 report. The report shows that operating earnings and net income has been affected by the recent instability of the world financial markets, but AEGON has reported no significant impairments. AEGON has also reiterated its confidence in meeting its ...

Holland must do more to promote itself as pooling hub

European Pensions - Monday 20th May, 2013

Holland must do more to promote itself as a centre for international asset pooling, says a new report from the Netherlands, while also preserving the strength of the Dutch pensions ...

Dutch financial confidence knocked by sub-prime crisis

European Pensions - Monday 20th May, 2013

Financial stability in the Netherlands is less favourable than it was six months ago, according to the DNB’s most recent assessment of the region. The Overview of Financial Stability (OFS), published by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), highlighted a recent period in the market when, triggered by the crisis in the US sub-prime mortgage market, liquidity evaporated in various credit ...

Leading Dutch funds allocate €500m to clean technology

European Pensions - Monday 20th May, 2013

ABP and PGGM have re-inforced their commitment to sustainable investment with a joint mandate to invest in innovative, clean technology. The two largest pension funds in the Netherlands have appointed AlpInvest* to invest €500 million in innovative, clean technology in one of the largest mandates ever to be placed on the international private equity market. This is the first time ...

Aegon enhances CEE prescence

European Pensions - Monday 20th May, 2013

AEGON has made further moves to bolster its presence in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) marketplace. Following its acquisition of PTE Ergo Hestia earlier this year, AEGON and BRE Bank have entered into exclusive negotiations on a possible merger of their two Polish pension funds, PTE Ergo Hestia SA and PTE Skarbiec-Emerytura SA. As part of the discussions, BRE Bank would grant AEGON ...

Dutch funds respond to SRI embarrassment

European Pensions - Monday 20th May, 2013

Dutch pension funds have been shamed into smartening up their investment decisions after a current affairs TV programme in the Netherlands revealed that two of the largest funds were investing in US firms that produce cluster bombs and landmines. Dutch pension fund PGGM, the pension fund for the healthcare and social work sector, has since announced that it has stopped investing in these ...

Dutch fund returns down says WM

European Pensions - Monday 20th May, 2013

Average returns for Dutch Pension funds in 2006 halved - from 14.8% in 2005 to 7.4% in 2006 – according to new performance figures by WM Performance Services (WM). Taking into account the consumer price index, which rose by 1.4%, this represents a real return of 5.9%, which is above the 10-year annualised real universe return of 5.2%, says the investment performance measurement ...

Shell Oil Presses Supreme Court to Deprive Torture Victims of Justice

NCM - Monday 20th May, 2013

Bashe Yousuf, a torture victim from Somalia, was among plaintiffs who won a $21 million lawsuit against his Somali torturer in Federal Court. WASHINGTON-Will victims of distant genocides and crimes against humanity be allowed to continue using U. S. courts to seek justice against their persecutors, as well as the individuals and corporations that helped facilitate human rights violations across ...

Wolters Kluwer Acquires Prosoft in Brazil

General Sources - Monday 20th May, 2013

Wolters Kluwer announced today that it has acquired Prosoft Tecnologia S.A., a leading provider of tax and accounting software based in Sao Paolo, Brazil.The acquisition aligns with Wolters Kluwer`s strategy to expand its leading, high growth positions.Established in 1985, Prosoft is one of the largest tax and accounting software solutions providers in Brazil, with 250 employees, and serving all ...

Europes Defense Double Dutch

ISN - Monday 20th May, 2013

Julian Lindley-French doesn't believe that shrinking European defense budgets will spur ever-closer defense cooperation. In fact, this erroneous notion not only jeopardizes NATO's vision of Smart Defense, it also means that Europe's leading armed forces will have a little bit of everything but not much of anything. By Julian Lindley-French for Atlantic ...

Trio denies causing death of Dutch tourist in pub fight at Gawler

AdelaideNow - Sunday 19th May, 2013

THREE young men have denied unlawfully causing the death of a Dutch tourist during a pub fight last year. Jason Bridgland, Alex Winter and a 17-year old youth who cannot be named, each pleaded not guilty today to a charge of manslaughter. Bridgland, 21, is alleged to have inflicted the punch that killed Henk van Oosterom outside the Bushmans Hotel in Gawler in September last year. He was ...

Dutch police detain girl who wished to become jihadist fighter against Assad

General Sources - Sunday 19th May, 2013

The girl is the first female volunteer to be stopped before leaving the country - although there were suggestions at the weekend that two other women have previously made the journey, and that as many as nine of those who've gone to fight since 2011 have been under ...

One in three watch Anouk but is the Eurovision winner a Dutch copy

Dutch News.nl - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Dutch singer Anouk returned to the Netherlands on Sunday after coming ninth in the Eurovision Song Contest, saying she was very happy with her performance. Anouk, who said she had aimed for a top 10 place with her self-penned number Birds, was the first Dutch entrant to qualify for the finals in nine years. The Russian, Ukraine and Greek entries were her own particular favourites, she said. ...

Police locals deny claim part of The Hague is a Sharia triangle

Dutch News.nl - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Claim by newspaper Trouw that part of The Hague’s Schilderswijk district is so dominated by orthodox Muslims that they are dictating what people should wear and how they should behave, have been denied by both police and local politicians. Under the headline ‘Hague district is orthodox Muslim ...

Soccer-Dutch championship 1st round summaries

General Sources - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Dutch championship 1st Round second leg matches on Sunday Utrecht 2 Jens Toornstra 9,82 Heerenveen 1 Mark Uth 90 Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 19,222 - - ...

Obama approval rating holds steady in CNN poll

Middle East Times - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Barack Obama did not seem to do any serious damage to his popularity among U.S. voters, a CNN poll released Sunday concluded. The CNN/ORC International poll -- conducted Friday and Saturday -- pegged the president's job approval at 53 percent, slightly better than the 51 percent approval level the same poll found in early April. "That two-point difference is well within the ...

Devilish Dutch drama Borgman debuts at Cannes

San Diego Union-Tribune - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Director Alex Van Warmerdam poses for photographers during a photo call for the film Borgman at the 66th international film festival, in Cannes, southern France, Sunday, May 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Lionel ...

Dark Dutch fairy tale spooks Cannes

Expatica - Sunday 19th May, 2013

Shape-shifting home invaders terrorise a wealthy family of five in a Dutch thriller tinged with black comedy that sent a shiver through Cannes Sunday."Borgman" by Alex van Warmerdam is a dark fairy tale that explores the guilty conscience of a cosseted modern wife living in a luxurious suburban home like a gilded cage.An opening sequence sees feral-looking men emerging from secret ...