European Commission Approves Bailout of Four Spanish Banks

The European Commission on Wednesday approved a payment of €37 billion, or $48 billion, from the euro zone bailout fund to four Spanish banks on the condition that they lay off thousands of employees and close offices as part of their restructuring.

ECB ready for bond purchases if conditions met: Coeure

HONG KONG: The European Central Bank is ready to buy sovereign bonds of euro zone countries that require assistance and agree to fiscal adjustment programmes, European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said on Wednesday.

Greek bankruptcy averted for now

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — European and global financial leaders have agreed to release €44 billion ($57 billion) in critical loans to Greece and provide billions in additional debt relief in order to help the country stabilize its ailing economy.

Spain says first bank recapitalisation 37 billion euros

BRUSSELS: The first injection of loans to recapitalise Spain's broken banking system will amount to 37 billion euros (nearly $50 billion), Spain's Finance Minister Luis De Guindos said Monday.

UK downgrade looms 'but it could be a help'

Chancellor George Osborne's attempts to cling onto the nation's triple-A credit rating look doomed but the loss would be "symbolic, not catastrophic", the UK's biggest bank says.

EU, IMF working on Greek debt compromise: Official

ATHENS: The EU and the International Monetary Fund are working on a compromise to break deadlock on Greece's debt mountain which has held up the latest rescue loans, a Greek finance ministry source said on Friday.

Spain starts 2013 funding with 3.9 billion-euro bond sale

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain sold nearly 4 billion euros of bonds with ease at an auction on Thursday that kicked off its funding program for a daunting 2013 when Madrid must shoulder regional debt needs and will struggle to meet deficit targets.

Public Anger Over Europe’s Budget, and Wine Cellar, Bubbles Before Talks

BRUSSELS — Amid wrangling over how much money the European Union spends at a time of grinding austerity across the Continent, Martin Ehrenhauser, an Austrian member of the European Parliament, lobbed a sobering question this summer at the union’s Brussels bureaucracy: How many bottles of booze does it have stocked in its wine cellars?

Banking sector reform: don't tear up Vickers proposals, warns Osborne

George Osborne, the chancellor, has urged the independent commission on banking standards to avoid "tearing up" the consensus on financial reform by pushing for a more radical separation of retail and investment banking.

Greece Waits Nervously for Vital Bailout Funds

Euro zone finance ministers are likely to approve the next tranche of loans to Greece on Tuesday although the money is unlikely to be disbursed before December and a deal on debt reduction may need further talks.

Statement by the EC, ECB, and IMF on the Sixth Review Mission to Portugal

Staff teams from the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB), and International Monetary Fund (IMF) visited Lisbon during November 12 - 19 for the sixth quarterly review of Portugal’s economic program.

Banks shrink as job cuts near 160,000

Major banks have announced about 160,000 job cuts since early last year and with more layoffs to come as the industry restructures, many will leave the shrinking sector for good as redundancies outpace new hires by roughly two to one.

US industrial production drops 0.4 percent

WASHINGTON (AP) — Superstorm Sandy depressed U.S. industrial output in October, the latest indication that the storm could temporarily slow the economy.

Euro-Area Exports Fell in September as Economy Contracted

Euro-area exports fell in September as the region’s economy slipped into a recession for the second time in four years.

IMF suggests Europe should act to reduce Greece debt

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund suggested Thursday that Europe should act to reduce Greece's debt, insisting the Fund itself was not prepared to contribute more to the country's bailout.

Spanish banks halt evictions amid growing protests

MADRID (AP) — Spain's major banks agreed on Monday to suspend some evictions of homeowners unable to pay their mortgages after hundreds of thousands of Spaniards lost their homes during the crushing economic crisis and two recently committed suicide.

Official: China can meet 7.5 percent growth target

BEIJING (AP) — China's sharp economic downturn has ended after trade and consumer spending improved in October but the world's second-largest economy is not ready for a recovery and exporters face tough conditions, officials said Saturday.

German Bonds Advance as Reports Show European Slowdown Deepening

Germany’s government bonds rose for a third week as data showed the economic slowdown is spreading to Europe’s largest economies, underpinning the case for the region’s central bank to cut interest rates to boost growth.

Bank of England hands QE income to Treasury

The Bank of England has said it will give the Treasury the interest it earns on certain government debts it holds.

ECB, Bank of England hold interest rates

LONDON (CNNMoney) -- Europe's leading central banks kept interest rates unchanged Thursday despite a worsening near-term outlook for the region's economy.

Draghi says ECB plan allows for unlimited bond buys

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank's new bond-buying program allows for unlimited interventions in sovereign debt markets and should dispel concerns about a euro zone break-up, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.

Changes Are Approved to Ease Germans’ Costs for Welfare Programs

BERLIN — Leaders from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition agreed Monday on a raft of changes to social welfare programs aimed at easing costs for average Germans, to bolster the government’s sagging popularity less than a year before parliamentary elections.

Greece makes austerity push, workers gear for strike

ATHENS: Greece's government presented a new austerity package to parliament on Monday as a week of strikes and protests kicked off over proposals that lawmakers must approve if the country is to secure more aid and stave off bankruptcy.

G20 finance chiefs to begin talks to tackle eurozone crisis

MEXICO CITY: G20 finance chiefs begin Sunday two days of talks aimed at quelling fears of a global economic downturn amid a persistent eurozone debt crisis and a looming fiscal crunch in the United States.

Royal Bank of Scotland set for talks to settle Libor-rigging claims

Royal Bank of Scotland is preparing to enter talks with regulators to settle Libor-rigging claims, its chief executive said on Friday, as the bailed-out bank prepares to face a major fine for the attempted manipulation of the key interest rate.

Bank of England gets long to-do list for overhaul

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England needs to overhaul its internal structures to address a patchy forecasting record and open up to a broader range of views on the economy, three independent reviews of the central bank's operations recommended on Friday.

Data points to slow healing in labor market

(Reuters) - Companies added jobs in October at the fastest pace in eight months, a sign of modest healing in the labor market just days before a presidential election that could hinge on the economy.

Greek recession worse than forecast next year

ATHENS: The Greek recession will be even worse than expected next year, according to a draft budget tabled in parliament on Wednesday.