Greece

EUROPE - RBS expects Greece will experience a hard default this December in a move it says will cause "violent contagion" in global markets.

GREECE - Standard & Poor's has slashed Greece's long term credit rating from B to CCC, amid fears private sector debt proposals will amount to a default.

GREECE - The Greek parliament has narrowly voted to approve a drastic austerity package despite facing widespread opposition.

GREECE - Greece plans to sell €1.25bn ($1.78bn) of 13-week Treasury bills today as growing speculation the country will need to restructure its debt pushed bond yields to euro-era records.

GREECE - Greek telecom operator Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE) has said it will have to book a €129.8m ($179m) pensions cost charge to its 2010 accounts following an actuarial study by the Greek government.

GREECE - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou passed an overhaul of the pension system in a vote that tested the unity of his socialist government and prompted the second national strike in as many weeks.

GREECE/GLOBAL - Greece has pledged to undertake a pensions overhaul as part of the structural reforms agreed with its partners in the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a €110bn (US$144bn) rescue package.

NORWAY/GREECE - Norway's public pension fund appears to be the biggest proportional loser from knock-on effects of Greece's debt woes, after Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) boosted its holdings in Greek equities by 45.8% during the second half...

GREECE - Greece has frozen all state pensions as part of a package of measures worth €4.8bn (US$6.5bn), erasing the announced increases included in the previous budget.

GLOBAL - The average assets to gross domestic product ratio for OECD pension funds dropped from 75.5% of GDP in 2007 to 63.4% in 2008, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.