Zurich (dpa) - Credit Suisse and Swiss Re, both hit hard by the financial crisis, announced changes at the top of the companies Monday morning.

Peter Forstmoser, the chairman of Swiss Re, the re-insurer, announced in a statement that he would resign from the board and be replaced by Walter B. Kielholz, the current chairman of Credit Suisse, who would stay at the bank as a member of the board.

Hans-Ulrich Doerig, currently the vice-chairman of Credit Suisse was being proposed as the new chairman of Switzerland's second largest bank.

Stockholm  - Swedish banking group Swedbank Monday said it was to withhold its planned dividend for 2008, citing "a continued deterioration of macroeconomic conditions" in several markets including the neighbouring Baltics.

A month ago, the bank's board had proposed a dividend of 2.9 billion kronor (315 million dollars) for the financial year 2008. The dividend was to be halved to 4.50 kronor per share.

New York, Mar 7: Wall Street fund manager Bernard Madoff, who is accused of defrauding investors of 50 billion dollars in a massive Ponzi scheme, could plead guilty as early as next week.

Madoff, the high-profile money manager, is expected to plead guilty to federal charges at a hearing on Thursday; FOX News quoted a Justice Department official, as saying.

Victims could speak at the hearing, and there are thousands of them, according to a motion filed in federal court.

Brussels  - The Belgian government, the French bank BNP Paribas SA and Fortis, the Belgian-Dutch financial services company, agreed overnight to a plan for the divestment of Fortis' Belgian financial units.

BNP Paribas, France's largest bank, is to take over 75 per cent of Fortis Bank in a deal valued at 2.88 billion euros (3.64 billion dollars), the Belgian news agency Belga reported Saturday, citing the government.

The remaining 25-per-cent stake would remain in the hands of the government, the report said.

Athens  - After years of failed privatization attempts, the Greek government sealed a deal Friday with the country's largest buyout firm, Marfin Investment Group, for the sale of debt-ridden carrier Olympic Airlines, said Development Minister Kostis Hatzidakis.

The deal involving Marfin (MIG) comes a month after the conservative government made a last-minute appeal for investors to rescue Olympic, after an international tender failed to produce satisfactory offers.

Singapore  - The tiny city state of Singapore at the tip of the Malay Peninsula currently boasts what is probably Asia's largest construction site.

Despite the global economic downturn, workers toil here around the clock, seven days a week, to build Singapore's first casino complex.

The Marina Bay Sands is scheduled to open in December and apart from the casino proper it will comprise a convention and exhibition centre, some 300 shops and luxury boutiques, a museum and three hotel towers, each of them 200 metres high, with a combined 2,600 beds.