Economics / Markets

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating whether insider trading took place in Heinz shares ahead of the food giant's historic deal with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

Sir Mervyn King voted to increase quantitative easing (QE) by a further £25bn at February's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, latest minutes reveal.

The UK's blue chip index has climbed to a five-year high above 6,400, surpassing the peak of 6,376 seen before the financial crisis.

Pressure is mounting on the boss of Lloyds to give up his bonus after the bank was rocked by yet another hit relating to a mis-selling scandal.

FIVE THINGS

A group of MPs has criticised government attempts to stimulate the economy, including quantitative easing, for being "expensive experiments".

Lord Myners, the former City Minister, has condemned lobbying of the government by the financial services industry, which has made fund managers rich at the expense of companies.

The German economy crashed at the end of last year as the crisis in the eurozone spread to the heart of the region.

Labour will re-introduce a 10p starting rate of tax if it wins the next general election, paid for by a new ‘mansion tax' on £2m properties, Ed Miliband said today.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Nestor Healthcare Group Nestor) £175,000 for failing to take adequate steps to ensure that its board members and senior executives complied with the share dealing provisions of the FSA's Model Code.