The alleged rogue trader at the heart of a multi-billion pound fraud investigation has pleaded not guilty to two charges of false accounting and two of fraud.

Brett Williams, the former head of platforms Cofunds and Skandia, has launched a private equity firm with targets including financial services groups.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has pledged to give a chunk of his income to help pay down the US' national debt, if politicians do the same.

UK markets were firmer today, reaching new highs for 2012 as investors went to risk-on mode, despite the threat of a stand-off between Greece and its bondholders.

The UK may have to fork out £17.5bn to plug a funding shortfall at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the organisation warned yesterday it needed additional funds to tackle the eurozone crisis.

First State's Martin Lau has beaten stars including Invesco Perpetual's Neil Woodford and Neptune's Robin Geffen to see his Greater China Growth fund ranked the most consistent performer over the three years to the end of 2011.

Schroders' Richard Buxton has revealed the top ten stocks he is backing in his £2.7bn UK Alpha Plus fund heading into 2012.

Cazenove Capital Management has made unbundled share classes available to intermediaries across its equity and multi-manager fund ranges ahead of the RDR deadline at the end of the year.

Switzerland's central bank is embroiled in a political storm after it was revealed the wife of the governor sold 500,000 Swiss francs shortly before the authorities intervened to cap the value of the currency.

The FTSE 100 opened flat on Wednesday after closing at its highest level for more than two months last night.