UK – The Pension Protection Fund has awarded a two-year contract to credit firm D&B to measure the insolvency risk of companies who provide defined benefit pension schemes.

D&B (Dun & Bradstreet) will measure insolvency risk as part of the calculation of each schemes' pension protection levy, which is due to apply from 2006, the PPF said.

Financial terms of the contract, which has an option to extend for a further two years, were not disclosed. A PPF spokesman said it was at a “commercial rate at a level which was acceptable to us”.

IPE reported last month that it understood that names in the frame for this contract included Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Dun and Bradstreet.

"Insolvency risk will be one of the key factors that will be taken into account when setting the risk based levy from 2006,” said PPF director of investment and finance Partha Dasgupta today.

"D&B are globally recognised as a leading provider of business information with a proven track record. D&B's scoring methodology is already viewed as credible by industry, and complements our own core principles of fairness, simplicity and proportionality. We look forward to working with them."

"D&B are very pleased to be appointed by the Pension Protection Fund to provide the insolvency risk calculation for the risk based levy,” added D&B's global customer manager Peter Livesley.”

The criteria of the tender exercise included “the most economically advantageous tender”.

The bidders were measured against criteria such as whether they were credible and had published and transparent methodology. They also had to be flexible and have broad coverage.

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