Economics / Markets

Fabrice Tourre - the bond trader at the heart of Goldman Sachs' fraud case - was on Tuesday barred from working in the City of London in the first 'victory' for financial regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.

A Liberal Democrat government would immediately set "non-negotiable" net lending targets for state-owned banks Lloyds and RBS.

Inflation rose to 3.4% in March, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The FTSE 100 opened positively, up 0.45% or 25.88 points to 5,753, despite food retailers dragging on the index.

Banks have warned they would be forced to halt lending to small businesses by tighter international regulations they say are being rushed in.

After last week's run-down of Labour's biggest financial cock-ups, IFAonline brings you the worst financial gaffes thrust on society by the Conservatives. *Warning: The following may stir some unhappy memories...

The FTSE was down 10.1 points, or 0.17%, to 5733.95 in early trading as the volcanic ash concerns continued to hit travel firms.

Lawyers in the United States were predicting a wave of legal action last night in the wake of the $1bn fraud charge brought against Goldman Sachs by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The value of Warren Buffett's options to buy Goldman Sachs shares fell by over $1bn after the SEC sued the investment banking giant on Friday.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants the FSA to probe Goldman Sachs after the SEC announced it was suing the company for sub-prime related fraud.