The FTSE fell sharply this morning after talks to agree a $700bn bail-out of the US financial industry stalled overnight.

New rules allowing protected rights investment in SIPPs could leave savers exposed to huge losses due to a gap in compensation rules, AWD Chase de Vere warns.

Washington Mutual (WaMu) bank has been closed and sold to JP Morgan Chase after suffering a bank run during the past fortnight.

HSBC says it has been forced to cut 1,100 jobs - about 4% of its entire workforce - as a result of the global financial turmoil.

Woolwich has today upped the rates on its entire fixed mortgage range in response to "substantial" increases in the cost of funding.

The FTSE closed today with a rise of 101.45 points (1.99%) to 6197.02 as financial stocks saw the biggest gains.

Bradford & Bingley (B&B) has announced it will cut 370 jobs to streamline its operations in response to the mortgage downturn.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) today suggests it should make public those firms that receive 30 complaints or more in a six-month period.

Abbey International has launched a fixed rate Monthly Offshore Saver account, allowing regular savers to earn 12% gross AER sterling, 10% gross AER for euro and 6% gross AER for US dollars.

Zurich International Life has added a total of 20 new funds to its open architecture International Wealth Account and mirror fund ranges.