Funding gap for plans of S&P 500 companies almost doubled in 2011 to around $450bn as bond yields dropped

The state-owned bank wants to stave off criticism over its failure to meet certain government-set targets on availability of credit for small business

The premise that pension assets are locked up and lying idle has a long pedigree within UK governments

Co-founder of private equity group Doughty Hanson and owner of Nottingham Forest football club is thought to have suffered a heart attack

Japanese and South Korean companies are expected to lead a wave of acquisition activity out of the region this year

Cucchiani to revamp top management, as Italy's biggest bank by market value seeks to reinvent itself as 'less Italian' and more of a global player

Enforcement actions have reinforced the view that the UK is lighter on markets policing but that could be about to change with aggressive US-style tactics

Eleven Swiss banks face questions over US investigation with the decision to accept business after the UBS settlement seen as incomprehensible

The Bank of England is expected this week to announce further quantitative easing while Australia is set to receive an interest-rate cut

EUROPE could enjoy big cuts in the price of energy in the next few years if the go-ahead is given to exploit shale gas.

AIRPORTS group BAA must sell Stansted after losing an appeal against a ruling by the competition watchdog.

THE last of the Lloyds Banking Group executives involved in the group's ill-starred acquisition of HBOS is to leave the bank this month.

BSkyB yesterday unveiled plans for an internet pay-TV service as growth in satellite TV subscribers slowed.

RANK Group is looking to become the UK's biggest casino operator by striking a £250million deal with Gala Coral.

BUDGET airline Ryanair yesterday warned of further fare increases in the face of a soaring fuel bills, even though profits took off over the past three months.

MORE business travellers, higher baggage charges and increased sales of extras such as bacon butties has sent revenues climbing at easyJet.

MORRISONS launched a -major push into the mother-and-baby market yesterday.

WHSMITH hailed the success of the group's drive into airports, hospitals and railway stations by pointing to its reduced dependency on Christmas.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos meets his coalition party leaders to try seek backing for a crucial 130bn euros EU rescue plan.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening says she will vote against bonuses for senior Network Rail executives at the company's annual general meeting.

More than 100 Conservatives are among MPs who have written to the prime minister calling on him to slash subsidies for onshore wind turbines.

The more young people come into contact with employers the less likely they are to drop out of school and become unemployed, research suggests.

The way annuities are sold is costing half a million retirees each year as much as £1bn in future pension income, the National Association of Pension Funds says.

Around 20% of unemployed people who have been on the government's main welfare-to-work scheme, the Work Programme, for at least 6 months have been found a job, the BBC has learnt.

The US economy created 243,000 jobs in January, while the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%, official figures show.

Virgin Atlantic is forcing successful job applicants to pay for their own criminal record checks, Radio 4's Money Box reveals.

The government is looking for 12 run down High Streets in England to share £1m as a part of plans proposed by TV retail guru Mary Portas.

Officials say government and troika are ‘quite far apart’ on wage and pension reductions

Seventy one per cent of all the new power generating capacity fitted in the EU last year came from solar panels, wind turbines or other renewable energy sources

Eleven Swiss banks face questions over US investigation with the decision to accept business after the UBS settlement seen as incomprehensible

Iran has indicated that its threat to cut oil supplies to European states in order to pre-empt an EU oil embargo may be only a symbolic one

Funding gap for plans of S&P 500 companies almost doubled in 2011 to around $450bn as bond yields dropped

As natural resources have become the engine of the economy, there is a new force with the potential to shape the press landscape

The debt crisis and fiscal austerity are forcing business chiefs to rethink strategy

Enforcement actions have reinforced the view that the UK is lighter on markets policing but that could be about to change with aggressive US-style tactics

Vodafone jumps on chance to win market share from rivals following the decision by India’s supreme court to revoke 122 licences with newspaper ads

BARCLAYS is set to stoke the furore over bonuses this week when it reveals a £1.8 billion payout to its investment bankers plus a bonus and pay package to its American chief executive Bob Diamond worth up to £11.5 million.

PENT-up demand for Facebook shares could send its value up from $100 billion (£63.2 billion) to as high as $123 billion (£77.8 billion) when the shares finally start trading on the stock market, according to traders.

LORD Lamont, former Chancellor in the John Major government, has slammed quantitative easing (QE) as a "panic measure" that could damage the recovery.

BP chief executive Bob Dudley is expected to elaborate on its new strategy this week as he sets out on the path to recovery after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.

SHAREHOLDERS in mining giant Xstrata have set out the terms on which they would support a merger with trading firm Glencore to create an $80 billion (£51 billion) commodities colossus.

RETAIL sales at many stores in Westfield shopping centre in Stratford are exceeding expectations as business is "sucked away" from London's high streets.

SURREY has spawned the highest number of successful "recession-era" start-ups according to new figures from Barclays.

THE UK may be in the middle of a big freeze but the biggest long-term weather threat facing millions of homeowners is flooding. As more extreme weather is on the horizon, 5.2 million homes face a serious flood risk. Watching helplessly as your house fills with water is a harrowing experience and the clean-up operation can be costly.

JOHN N, 58, is looking for the best way to use a £19,000 lump sum from an endowment policy linked to a mortgage he had nine years ago.