Asia

ISRAEL - Israel won't provide a "safety net" for pension savings eroded by the global financial crisis, the country's chief markets regulator said, rejecting a demand from the Histadrut labor union.

INDIA - Employees of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) are to stage a mass casual leave at the beginning of December, calling for restoration of pension arrangements for retired employees.

Once again, it is the intervention of foreigners that is causing Japan to open up to the outside world. And a more open corporate sector and fundamental changes in governance could mean an end to the view of Japan as a value trap, explains Joseph Mariathasan...

SOUTH KOREA - Blackstone Group LP, manager of the world's largest buyout fund, will invest US$2bn in South Korean companies, infrastructure projects and real estate, the Korean National Pension Service has said.

SOUTH KOREA - South Korea's National Pension Service, the nation's biggest investor, said it's buying stocks as the deepening credit crisis made equities cheaper.

JAPAN - A record amount of Japanese households said they are worried about retiring because they lack savings, a central bank report showed.

ASIA - Global market turmoil has left credit availability in Asia largely unscathed, allowing Asian companies to continue to invest in their businesses, a study by Greenwich Associates has found.

MIDDLE EAST - BNY ConvergEx Group has appointed Motaz Ibrahim as vice president and head of product sales for BNY Global Transition Management in the Middle East.

SOUTH KOREA - South Korea's National Pension Service, the nation's biggest investor, plans to cut its overseas investments and buy domestic bonds to help the nation weather its worst financial turmoil in a decade.

INDIA - As many as 25,000 employees of India's central bank plan to strike for a day on 21 October for a higher pension, the United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers and Employees' Association said.