Pension funds that hold a stake in National Bank (NBG) will not participate in its upcoming share capital increase in a move that will increase their risk, National Economy and Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis told Sunday's Kathimerini. The minister said that funds should not borrow money or exceed limits on stock holdings in order to buy shares in the country's largest lender. National Bank will seek shareholder permission tomorrow for a 3-billion-euro rights issue to fund its acquisition of Turkey's Finansbank.

Do not wreck the deal...

Ten men robbed and attacked three Pakistani men in Athens late on Friday pretending to be police officers, authorities said yesterday. Four of the suspects, aged 24, 21, 20 and 19, who allegedly stole 180 euros, a mobile phone and travel documents from the victims, were arrested on Saturday after the incident was reported to police. The identity of the suspects was not made public.

A 45-year-old man was killed in a car accident on the Kozani-Florina national highway in northern Greece early yesterday when the car he was driving veered out of control. In a separate incident, a motorcyclist, aged 24, was killed when he crashed into a car in Thessaloniki.

Robbers who had just held up a butcher's shop in Tavros, southern Athens, on Saturday fired a warning shot into the air to deter a customer who had run after them, police said. Nobody was injured and the the two suspects made off with an unspecified amount.