RBS announced a raft of new measures Monday, which it hopes will improve its relationship with small and medium-sized businesses. Peter Ibbetson, chairman of RBS Business Banking, told CNBC the key issue was transparency.

"We've all come to the conclusion that deleveraging is a good thing. But I think we expected deleveraging to take place in the financial sector, not in the real economy," Peter Hemington from BDO told CNBC Monday after official data showed that Britons repaid the highest amount of unsecured credit on record in October.

GE is reportedly trying to buy back a stake of CNBC-parent NBC Universal from Vivendi. GE needs the stake if it is to sell NBC to Comcast. Alfonso Marone from Value Partners Group considers the potential deal.

"Russia going forward is a country on a knife-edge," Jochen Wermuth, founder of the Greater Europe Fund, told CNBC Monday. Political leaders in Russia have to decide whether to face up to corruption and lawlessness, he added.

After years of secrecy, Switzerland's banking sector is having to face up to not only huge losses from the crisis, but also international pressure for more transparency. CNBC's Geoff Cutmore has this report.

Steel maker ThyssenKrupp confirmed that it had a steep net loss in its 2008/9 fiscal year Friday and said it plans to reduce its workforce significantly. CEO Ekkehard Schulz told CNBC he is not pessimistic regarding the outlook for 2010/1. "We will return to profitability in nearly all our business areas," he added.

UK banking regulations were under the spotlight again Thursday as proposals from city expert Sir David Walker were formally reviewed. Jon Dymond, director of Hay Group, has analysis of the proposals.

Banks must disclose how much they pay top employees, a UK government-sponsored report published by Sir David Walker said Thursday. "I am confident that the direction of the proposals I'm making is right," Walker, a former chairman of Morgan Stanley's international unit, told CNBC.