Breaking Finance news

South Africa’s trade minister embraced China’s surging investment in Africa, saying that Beijing was not pursuing a neocolonial policy and its growing interest in the continent would bring huge benefits

Europe’s share trading markets are set for their biggest shake-up in years

More robust approach meant investigators were quicker off the mark in terms of boarding offshore rigs, said safety body

The deals, whereby companies tap investors directly for loans, are on track for one of their strongest years, highlighting the extent to which companies are seeking to diversify their funding sources away from banks

Global Market Overview: Stocks are enjoying the continuing upswing in bidding activity, though the broader markets are only hesitantly embracing risk amid political uncertainty, especially after Australia’s election

A deal for a controlling stake in South African lender Nedbank would leave the UK bank well placed to benefit from growing ties between Asia and Africa

Hewlett-Packard squared up to long-time computer rival Dell with a $1.6bn counterbid for data storage company 3Par, adding to a surge in technology mergers by industry leaders pushing to expand their business range

The Canadian fertiliser group has entered talks with a number of other companies to block a $39bn hostile bid from BHP Billiton

Leading economists have questioned the Bank of England’s nonchalance over the effect on the economy of huge cuts in public spending planned by the government

Iran’s supreme leader has taken the unprecedented step of publicly rebuking his political allies after cracks emerged between the conservative and radical fundamentalists who dominate the government

Appointment completes the transition among the senior management of the UK retailer as Sir Stuart Rose steps down from his last remaining role at the group

The US state department will formulate a company specific “policy” to address export licence approvals for BAE Systems and its subsidiaries following an analysis of the UK defence group’s guilty plea to criminal charges in March and discussions with BAE representatives

The first wave of the UK coalition’s ‘revolution’ in education will involve only about a dozen new institutions – well below the Tories’ pre-election plans

BHP Billiton will launch its charm offensive in Canada this week, as the mining group seeks to convince Canadian regulators and PotashCorp shareholders of the value in its $39bn (£25.1bn) bid to take over the fertiliser producer

Mobile operators expect app downloads to become their biggest source of income in developed markets within three years and want to charge content providers for preferential access to their networks

Brokers who allowed high-frequency traders to have access to the markets without undertaking proper checks on them face potential fines as part of a clampdown following the “flash crash”, the head of a US watchdog said on Sunday

Non-US companies have issued record volumes of US bonds this year, as they turn to dollar markets to access cheap funding

Christine Lagarde, French finance minister, has hit back at critics of the government’s plans to meet its deficit targets, accusing markets of failing to give Paris credit for two years of reform

Recent history has shown that fiscal consolidation often leads to rising inequality, suggesting that the chancellor’s aim of carrying out ‘progressive’ reductions in public spending will be hard to achieve

The country’s strong economic performance in the second quarter is set to be confirmed by the release of purchasing managers’ indices, while US growth is likely to be revised down