Swansea West MP Torsten Bell, a former chief executive of the anti-poverty Resolution Foundation thinktank, has become the new Pensions Minister.

CPI inflation fell unexpectedly in December to 2.5% from 2.6% in November after two months of rises.

One in five - 21% - people who withdrew a cash lump sum from their pension pot did so as soon as they turned 55, many without taking advice or guidance from an expert.

The aggregate surplus of DB pension schemes dipped to £226.2bn at the end of December, according to the latest Pension Protection Fund (PPF) 7800 Index.

Fast-growing Chartered Financial Planning firm Attivo has appointed Fiona Prendergast as its chief marketing officer, to lead marketing and communications to enhance the Attivo brand and drive growth.

Fund manager and financial provider Abrdn will rebrand its MyFolio Managed range of five funds to become Abrdn MyFolio Core from 1 April.

Integrafin, parent company of adviser platform Transact, has reported record funds under direction on the platform of £65.9bn for the three months to the end of December.

The FCA has fined interdealer broker Arian Financial (FRN 415230) £288,962.53 for failing to ensure it had effective systems and controls against financial crime.

The majority of independent financial advisers say they have no plans to add artificial intelligence (AI) to their client services in the next year, despite seeing the technology as an opportunity.

P1 Investment Services, operator of the P1 Platform, has appointed former Seccl manager Michelle Angell as senior client services and operations manager.