European and UK stocks opened down this morning, with the FTSE 100 losing 1.1%, reflecting the weak performance of US markets yesterday.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has become a second-tier regulator and needs to be scaled back, according to AIFA.

Dominant European bancassurers who hold "considerable" influence over the European Commission (EC) are continuing to lobby against RDR-style changes in Europe.

Hopes that official figures out tomorrow will show that the economy is growing once again were boosted as new figures indicated that the manufacturing sector had "turned the corner", reports The Times.

Wealth manager and advisory firm Hargreaves Lansdown has seen assets under management grow by almost a fifth over the three months between June and September.

The Post Office has expanded its mortgage offering, with information now available in branches across the UK.

Aviva has cut its market value reduction (MVR) rates on all of its unitised with-profits funds.

European shares rose in early trading this morning, with banks adding most points to the FTSE Eurofirst 300 (up 1.0% at the time of writing); HSBC, Banco Santander and BNP Paribas gained between 1.2 and 2.3%.

Bad consumer loans dragged Bank of America $1bn (£613m) into the red for the three months between July and September.

Aegon is considering expanding its restricted advice service, currently offering annuities, to the investment and protection sectors.