Economics / Markets

Ten of this week's best-read stories...

Part nationalised bank Royal Bank of Scotland today reported clean operating profits had fallen sharply in the third quarter, while it had also taken a loss on its Greek debt holdings.

Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, has said banks must accept responsibility for what went wrong during the financial crisis admitting they still had a long way to go to restore public trust.

The deputy governor of the Bank of England has revealed how the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) nearly raised rates earlier this year, before the downturn hit markets.

Greece has scrapped plans to hold a referendum on the European debt deal thrashed out by ministers last week after the country's opposition leader publicly backed the proposals.

The UK has a seven-in-ten chance of slipping back into recession unless European leaders can find a resolution to the debt crisis, a new report argues.

Shares in Lloyds Banking Group have dropped by 5% after the company announced CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio was taking a temporary leave of absence.

The Dow Jones shed almost 300 points in yesterday's session with sentiment knocked following Greek plans to hold a referendum on the European bailout plan agreed last week.

Royal London has reported new business sales up 12% so far in 2011, driven higher by strong performance of its international arm, Royal London 360.

The chief executive officer of part-nationalised British lender Lloyds Banking Group, Antonio Horta-Osorio, is taking a leave of absence for health reasons, a source with knowledge of the matter said according to reports.