Breaking Finance news

The financial watchdog announces that it would apply for the niche bank to be entered into liquidation, saying there were ‘major deficiencies’ in HQ’s trading operations

Foreign and Afghan troops repelled pre-dawn attacks on two bases in Afghanistan’s east on Saturday

The director-general of the BBC rounded on critics on Friday, saying there were “commercial and political forces” in the UK determined to undermine the broadcaster’s independence

Although the recession was a challenging period for the sector the ability of chains such as GBK to provide a relatively cheap night suggests that their revenues have some defensive merits

The UK economy grew at its fastest pace in 11 years in the second quarter but serious doubts remain that the momentum of recovery can be maintained as government spending cuts begin to bite

Agriculture wars: With economic and demographic pressures raising the global premium on crops, the battle for fertiliser group PotashCorp reaches beyond boardrooms and bankers

Postponing cuts in public and private sector debts would risk a Japanese-style ‘lost decade’, the European Central Bank president warns

Money pulled from shares is being pumped into bonds as the investing public, already worried about jobs and falling house prices, remains sceptical about the market

Intel added to worries about advanced economies as it warned that consumer demand for computers was slackening amid widespread fears of a double-dip recession

HP topped Dell’s offer for the data-storage group for the third time in a week, offering $30 a share in a bidding frenzy prompted by strategic ambitions that pushed the price well beyond ordinary valuations

Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, said that weaker-than-expected consumer spending growth and a ‘depressed’ housing market had slowed the pace of the US recovery and promised that the central bank was ready to take ‘unconventional’ steps to stimulate the economy if needed.

First-time buyers are being warned that unregulated schemes that offer the chance to rent a property with an option to buy it are a ‘disaster waiting to happen’

Asian stock markets are slipping backward as investors continue to fret about the faltering global economic recovery, and the yen’s strength again dents Japanese shares

Hewlett-Packard took another swipe at Dell’s agreed deal to take over 3Par, raising its bid for the data storage company to $27 a share just hours after Dell narrowly outbid its rival

Labour party leadership contender Ed Balls will say that a ‘hurricane is about to hit’ Britain’s economy, in a warning that the coalition’s plans to slash the deficit risk a double-dip recession

Vince Cable, business secretary, urged fellow ministers on Friday night not to hobble Britain’s competitiveness with excessive extra border controls, after new data showed a jump in net migration of 20 per cent

Mosaic and Agrium have launched a campaign defending the industry’s pricing and marketing arrangements in a move that could impede BHP’s takeover bid for PotashCorp

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has vowed to bring more high-profile enforcement actions against Wall Street over the financial crisis, following last month’s $550m settlement with Goldman Sachs

The fugitive businessman Asil Nadir was spending his first night for 17 years on British soil on Thursday as he prepared to fight criminal charges over his involvement in one of the country’s most notorious corporate collapses

The use of Spanish government bonds shows that confidence in Madrid has risen in recent weeks as fears recede that the country’s sluggish economy will trigger defaults on bonds and loans