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• Stimulus Will Do Little for Spain's Worsening Debt

  Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is expected to announce stimulus measures as soon as Friday and the EU looks willing to ease budget deficit targets for Madrid, but it could all be in vain as the debt mounts up, according to an HSBC economist.

• Deutsche Bank CEO: Major Progress on Capital Ratio

  

  Deutsche Bank shares rose 2.2 percent on Thursday, despite the company posting a 2.6 billion euro ($3.5 billion) pre-tax loss, after the lender reported capital ratios that were better than expected.

• Monte dei Paschi Harbored Bank Within a Bank

  

  The secret document at the heart of the Monte dei Paschi banking scandal lay for months in a concealed safe in a 14th century Tuscan palace. Chief Executive Fabrizio Viola said he learnt about the safe's contents only last October, a full 10 months after he had been called in to sort out Italy's third biggest bank.

• Global Markets Update 

  

  CNBC's Ross Westgate reports on all the market moving events from Europe.

• Spain's Rajoy, Ruling Party Deny Secret Slush Fund

  

  Spain's ruling People's Party denied on Thursday that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and other leaders received payments from a slush fund after a newspaper published what it said were secret party accounts.

• Is There Too Much Banking Legislation? 

  

  Olly Burrows, senior banks analyst at Rabobank, tells CNBC that the vast amount of legislation brought in after the banking crisis is now affecting credit flow to the real economy.

• European Markets Open Flat, Earnings Eyed 

  

  European markets have opened flat, with a focus on earnings.

• Diageo CEO: Southern Europe Is Difficult  

  

  Paul Walsh, CEO of Diageo, tells CNBC the company are increasing their dividend again by nine percent but continue to see difficulty with consumer expenditure in Southern Europe.

• Overweight Germany, Underweight Japan: HSBC 

  

  Garry Evans, Global Head of Equity Strategy at HSBC says Germany is a safe way to play the Europe markets. He says the excitement in Japan is priced in and is skeptical on whether the BOJ will do anything more aggressive.

• Spain's Clandestine Restaurants Hide From Taxman

  

  Economic hardship has inspired a full range of clandestine entrepreneurship in Spain. The combination of higher taxes and unemployment has pushed desperate Spaniards to convert their apartments and underused lofts and warehouses into jazz clubs, hair salons, restaurants and even flamenco halls.

• UK Proposes Tougher Accounting Test on Banks

  Accountants will have to determine more thoroughly if a bank can stand on its own two feet for well over a year without taxpayer help under draft changes from Britain's audit regulator.

• European Markets Close in the Red 

  

  CNBC's Simon Hobbs reports European shares closed lower after weaker-than-expected GDP data came in from the U.S.

• Bank CEOs Say Trading Curbs Will Stifle French Economy

  

  The heads of France's top three banks said tougher laws to curb risky trading would put the country at a competitive disadvantage as it struggles with record unemployment and a grim economic outlook.

• Flee ‘Safe’ Sovereign Debt, Says Hasenstab

  

  The man who made some of the boldest contrarian bets in the bond market last year has a new message for investors: get out of supposedly safe government debt now, before it is too late.

• Investors Throw Spain a Lifeline as Economy Shrinks

  

  With record unemployment figures, a fractious political scene, years of declining retail sales and Wednesday's depressing growth data, Spain appears to be sinking. Yet an improvement in risk appetite and falling borrowing costs continue to prop up the economy.

• Diageo CEO: Europe Market Is Lackluster

  

  Diageo, the world's biggest spirits maker, reported slowing growth in earnings on Thursday and the CEO told CNBC the Europe market was lackluster.

• Global Markets: European Shares Flat Ahead of Fed 

  

  CNBC's Kelly Evans reports on all the market moving events from Europe, as investors wait for a policy announcement on interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

• Rajoy Gets No Love Despite Modest Positive Signs

  

  Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy looks to have a tough year ahead as austerity bites, Catalonia bucks, and corruption lurks. The Christian Science Monitor reports.

• Euro Zone Sentiment Rises for Third Month in a Row

  

  Euro zone economic sentiment improved more than expected across all sectors in January, rising for the third time in a row in a sign the economy could be emerging from a low point in the fourth quarter of 2012.

• Monti Win Likely to Boost Italian Bonds: Coutts

  

  Italy's technocrat prime minister, Mario Monti, is likely to lead the country again after the national election in February, Coutts Chief Investment Officer Norman Villamin told CNBC.