A shiver has gone round company boardrooms following the news that a pensions watchdog has recommended that firms should change the way they calculate their employees' retirement rights.

The Pensions Regulator says that instead of working out how much should be set aside based on the fact someone will retire at 65 and live for 20 years they should now base their assumptions on a survival rate of 25 years.

This, business consultancey firm Aon estimates, could collectively cost firms an additional £75 billion.

In addition, if companies take up the recommendations outlined in a previous report by the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) about how new accounting methods should be implemented, it could end up costing firms another £75 billion.

Tony Hobman, the regulator's chief executive, said: "It is the regulator's view that some projections that have been in common use can no longer be considered reasonable assumptions."

Jerome Melcer, a partner at pensions consulting firm Lane Clark & Peacock, said that for those firms that haven't already closed their schemes to future accrual, "this might give them reason to go back and think again".

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