The Spanish government has agreed to extend the deadline for Spanish corporates to externalise their pension schemes until November 16 2002.

European Commission directives require companies with pension obligations to place these assets off the balance sheet, either through an insurance contract or a pension fund. In order to comply with the directives, the Spanish government had originally set a deadline for May this year. Although that deadline was then extended until the beginning of January 2001, over 70% of companies still have not taken the necessary steps to comply.