More UK employers want to delay plugging pension deficits-regulator

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - There has been a rise in the number of British employers wanting to defer payments they are making to reduce their pension scheme deficits, the UK pensions regulator said on Friday.

The Pensions Regulator said in a statement it was temporarily suspending all its regulatory initiatives and was postponing publication of its long-term strategy.

Pensions consultants say many companies are in trouble as a result of the coronavirus and need more flexibility from the regulator about topping up their defined benefit, or final salary, pension schemes.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn, editing by Kirstin Ridley)