Friends Provident UK life and pension sales rose 6% in the first half of the year, helping to boost the groups's pre-tax profits to £157m.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has attacked banks' failure to offer affordable loans to small businesses, labelling it "one of the greatest restraints on recovery for the UK economy".

Our first post-war coalition Government has now lasted 100 days; not a great achievement in itself but a convenient moment at which to pause and consider its impact on the financial services sector.

Paternoster has been put up for sale, with its original backers facing the loss of more than half their £500m equity investment.

Robert Gaines-Cooper, the Seychelles-based UK multi-millionaire in a long-running battle with HMRC, has won the right to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Johnny Cameron, the former RBS banker blocked by the FSA from taking up senior positions in the City, has set up his own advisory firm.

Ernst & Young (E&Y) has been forced to file a huge range of valuations with potential rescuers of Lifemark, because the fund's final worth is so unpredictable.

The Personal Finance Society (PFS) has appointed 21 financial planners as ‘Chartered Champions' to promote the professional status across the UK.

IFAs are increasingly taking out business disruption insurance against regulatory investigations, according to a City law firm.

The Serious Fraud Office says the UK urgently needs a new centralised fraud database to combat rising financial crimes as the current FSA-run register is "clearly not working".