Economics / Markets

The UK government is looking at fully nationalising beleaguered bank RBS in an attempt to kick-start lending to British businesses.

Britain's economy would suffer harsher consequences than Germany's should the eurozone break up, a consultant has predicted.

A top Bank of England economist has said his profession should take part of the blame for the financial crisis, according to the Telegraph.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pledged to continue its investigation into a property magnate linked to the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing, despite a setback in the High Court related to search warrants it obtained as part of its inquiries.

The gearing and mid/small cap bias of Anthony Bolton's Fidelity China Special Situations trust have raised questions over its suitability for retail investors, Winterflood Securities has said.

Financial planner and asset manager Ashcourt Rowan has announced a pre-tax loss of £2.32m for the year ending 31 March, against £5.75m in the previous year.

The management at Swindon-based Intrinsic Financial Services has bought out shareholder Lloyds Banking Group in a bid to make the company saleable.

Footballing giant Manchester United has said it plans to raise as much as $330m (£210m) in a share sale in New York, to help pay down its debts.

Capital Economics expects the Bank of England to cut the UK's base rate from 0.5% in an effort to stimulate growth, after last week's GDP figure showed the economy is shrinking faster than feared.

A decision by HSBC to set aside a further £340m to fund payment protection insurance (PPI) compensation claims has taken the amount banks have now earmarked for PPI mis-selling redress to almost £10bn, a report says.