Swiss plan to end bank secrecy challenged

Lawsuit could upset Zurich pledge to co-operate with US investigation into whether UBS helped Americans to evade taxes

Bank of Ireland confirms bid approach

Pressure is mounting after shares in the four listed banks have fallen by more than 90 per cent from last year's highs

Scots knights admit HBOS defeat

Sir Peter Burt and Sir George Mathewson took a final swipe at HBOS directors but admit that there was no hope for their plans

New Star veteran Whittaker forced out

John Duffield made the first cut in his £20m-a-year cost-savings drive as he forced out his joint chief investment officer

Citigroup dives despite Saudi stake

Fears the banking giant would need a huge new capital injection of up to $100bn intensified as shares fell 26 per cent

Citigroup chief blames rumours for stock slide

Vikram Pandit says "rumour mongering" is causing plunge in the bank's shares, which fell as much as 18% today

Citigroup shares plunge 18% as board meets

US bank continues to slide as bosses hold talks over the lender's future, including a possible merger

Scottish knights abandon HBOS counter deal

Sir Peter Burt and Sir George Mathewson stand down from offering an alternative to Lloyds TSB's takeover of the bank

Banks: lending to small businesses rises 10%

BBA, the mouthpiece for the finance industry, tries to counter Government threats to force banks to lend

Citigroup meets to consider rescue options

US bank's board will convene to discuss whether to merge or sell assets following a catastrophic fall in its shares

Turkey closes on $40bn IMF safety valve

Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's Prime Minister, said that he hoped to have a financing deal finalised with the IMF next week

RBS shareholders accept £20bn bailout

Royal Bank of Scotland shareholders voted to accept the Government's bailout as the chairman apologised 'profoundly'

How a company backing Brown lost its fight

Colorset, the business that supplies printed graphics and banners for Labour Party conferences, has gone into liquidation

Job cuts forecast as fund managers' fees fall

Up to 15 per cent of management jobs could go as fees fall in line with the value of equities and funds are forced to streamline

Germany knocks EU rescue plan

Berlin said that it would refuse to implement an EU Commission proposal for member states to reduce income tax and VAT

IG’s value drops 27% after spread of bad debts

Spread-betting company loses more than a quarter of its stock market value after its clients are burnt by the banking crisis

Banks thrive in role of top bananas

In the financial services menagerie, banks are the ultimate protected species. They cannot be allowed to expire. It's unthinkable

UK adds £2.2bn to IMF's Iceland bailout fund

UK will contribute to IMF rescue plan to help rescue stricken island’s economy by formally lending money it owes UK

Shareholders approve RBS £20bn bailout

RBS's £20bn bailout, which could put nearly 60% of the bank in public hands, gets yes vote following apology from chairman

Irish pressure to recapitalise big banks

Despite talk that Dublin accepts need for injection of public money, Taoiseach says Government is considering many options