The pension system in this country to a large extent depends on private companies such as the Prudential to supply savers/retirees with a rock-solid guarantee that they will be there when and as long as they are needed. Deals such as the one just announced can at best be described as a stitch-up where the public is left in the dark about the exact terms and no one but the FSA, the quango in charge of protecting the interests or savers, investors and retirees, knows what standards are applied. Even worse, should a disaster occur and the provider get into trouble the government can simply walk away - even if the financial regulator made errors in assessing the financial health of the insurer. That shareholders are also kept in the dark is par for the course. As a German banker once famously said: Shareholders are stupid and insolent: stupid to invest and insolent to expect a dividend.
P.S.: It may amuse the reader that The Times has refused to publish a version of the above comment on its Website. We can only assume that we have touched a raw nerve and that the editors did not want to give the impression that they allow criticism of the authorities to be published on their site.
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