Pension Protection Fund appoints chief executive

LONDON (Reuters) - The Pension Protection Fund on Thursday said it had appointed ex-Lehman Brothers managing director Alan Rubenstein as its new Chief Executive, replacing Partha Dasgupta, who stands down at the end of March.

Rubenstein was previously responsible for managing the Pensions Advisory Group at U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, providing services to corporate pension scheme sponsors. Lehman Brothers went bust in September last year.

The PPF bails out under-funded schemes whose sponsors go bankrupt, financing itself by charging a levy which varies from scheme to scheme depending on their financial shape.

Rubenstein takes up the position of CEO in April, while Dasgupta will remain with the PPF in an advisory role until his contract expires on June 21.

Dasgupta joined the PPF when it was launched in 2005 as director of investment performance. He was named CEO in June 2006.

Earlier this month the PPF said it was assessing applications for entry from 289 pension schemes. The PPF pays benefits to 20,750 people across 68 schemes.

The PPF calculated the aggregate deficit for 7,800 defined benefit schemes to be 194.5 billion pounds at end-December.

(Reporting by James Molony; Editing by Rupert Winchester)