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• European Shares Flat, ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Talks Stall

  European shares were flat on Friday as discussions over the U.S. "fiscal cliff" stalled.

• European Shares Close Lower on Growth Concerns

  

  European shares closed lower on Wednesday for a third consecutive session, with resurging worries about the global economic outlook undermining investor sentiment.

• Will S&P Ratings Cut Finally Push Spain Into a Bailout?

  

  Standard & Poor's decision to cut Spain's credit rating to one notch above junk status is weighing on markets, but analysts see a silver lining.

• King Signals Inflation Not Primary Focus

  

  Sir Mervyn King has given his clearest admission yet that he no longer believes price stability should be the Bank of England’s sole objective, arguing that central bankers should be flexible with inflation targets to head off future financial crises. The FT reports.

• FSA Eases Bank Rules to Boost Lending

  

  Capital and liquidity rules for the biggest UK banks have been quietly relaxed in an effort to stimulate lending, a move that puts Britain at the forefront of a global experiment to use bank regulation to moderate the economic cycle.

• European Shares Fall, Brace for Gloomy Earnings

  European shares closed lower in thin trade on Tuesday, with concerns continuing to surround the euro zone as German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes her first diplomatic visit to Athens since the start of the debt crisis in 2009.

• Favorable Tax Draws Companies to Britain

  

  At least 20 multinationals are drawing up plans to move their regional or global headquarters to Britain over the next year after government efforts to increase the competitiveness of the UK’s business tax regime.

• European Shares Close Lower on Euro Zone Concerns

  European shares closed lower on Monday on concerns over political and economic uncertainty in Greece and Spain, despite the launch of euro zone’s permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

• Launch of Europe Bailout Puts Ball Back in Spain's Court

  

  A 500-billion euro ($650 billion) bailout fund, one of the key tools of policymakers trying to find a solution to the euro zone debt crisis, will be launched later on Monday with Spain expected to be the first country to seek help from the fund.

• Economic Recovery ‘On the Ropes’

  

  The U.S. is the brightest spot in the world economy, as another global recession threatens, according to the latest Brookings Institution-Financial Times tracking index.

• To Regulate Rapid Traders, S.E.C. Turns to One of Them

  

  In an acknowledgment that regulators have fallen behind the traders they oversee, the agency is turning to one high-frequency trading firm for help. The New York Times reports.

• European Shares Close Higher On Central Bank Words

  European shares closed higher on Friday after the European Central Bank (ECB) said it was ready to start its bond-buying program at a press conference on Thursday.

• Barclays Alters Investment Banking Shape

  

  Barclays has rejigged its investment banking structure to create a devolved geographic management hierarchy and combine its fixed-income and equities businesses into a single markets unit. The FT reports.

• BAE Tie-Up Bad for UK, Warns Darling

  

  Alistair Darling has made a forceful intervention in the plans by EADS to combine with BAE Systems, saying British interests were bound to suffer because the UK government would have no equity stake in the enlarged group. The FT reports.

• ESM Threatens to Expose ‘Soft Core’

  

  Better late than never. After a string of delays, and having overcome a constitutional obstacle in Germany, the euro zone’s new rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism, looks set to be finally inaugurated on Monday, the Financial Times reports.

• Shares Close Slightly Lower After ECB Holds Rates

  European shares were lower at the close of Thursday's choppy session, after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced interest rates would remain on hold.

• French ‘Pigeons’ in Flutter Over Tax Rise

  

  François Hollande’s Socialist government is facing a new tax revolt – this time not from big business protesting against the president’s 75 per cent income tax band but in the form of a viral online campaign by small French entrepreneurs furious about a jump in capital gains taxes, the FT reports.

• EU Draft Urges Contracts for Euro States

  

  Euro zone countries would have to sign binding contracts with Brussels, committing them to detailed fiscal reform, according to a draft EU agenda that would increase the bloc’s control over national economic policies. The FT reports.

• European Shares End Mixed on Spain Uncertainty

  European markets ended mixed on Wednesday after Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy denied reports that he would be seeking a bailout for Spain this weekend.

• European Shares Close Mixed; Spanish Bailout Eyed

  European markets closed mixed on Tuesday, with Spanish stocks higher on ongoing hopes that Spain will seek a full bailout, a move which would ease investors' concerns over the euro zone debt crisis.