China could 'punish' Hong Kong over protests, says ex-HK central bank chief

A member of China’s central bank’s advisory body warned on Wednesday that Beijing will punish Hong Kong if pro-democracy protests that have paralysed parts of the Chinese-controlled financial centre for a month are allowed to continue.

Deutsche Bank swings to €92m loss on legal costs

Deutsche Bank swung to a loss in the third quarter because of higher legal costs to settle investigations.

BoE's Shafik sees no significant evidence of price pressures: FT

(Reuters) - The Bank of England will need to see more signs of price pressures building in Britain's economy before it raises interest rates from record low levels, its deputy governor Minouche Shafik said on Monday.

ECB List of Failing Banks Shrinks If You Read Small Print

Most of the lenders that failed the European Central Bank’s balance-sheet test have been let off for good behavior.

Eurozone survey rise does not ease recession fears

LONDON (AP) - A stronger than anticipated economic survey Thursday failed to inspire much optimism that the recovery in the 18-country eurozone and of France in particular would be anything but muted.

U.S. new home sales at six-year high; recovery still fragile

(Reuters) - Sales of new U.S. single-family homes rose to a six-year high in September, but a sharp downward revision to August's sales pace indicated the housing recovery remains tentative.

Asia economic growth to languish as China slows: poll

(Reuters) - Emerging Asia will contribute less to the global economy in 2015 than was expected just months ago as a slowdown in China drags on growth in the region, partially offset by acceleration in the United States, Reuters polls showed.

UK housing market is cooling, says BBA

Mortgage activity dropped in September compared with a year ago signalling a UK housing market that is "continuing to cool", banks have said.

Italian police uncover €1.7bn corporate fraud

Italian police have uncovered a fraud which they say has cost Italian taxpayers €1.7bn (£1.3bn; $2.2bn).

Homemovers stranded after Bank of England mortgage payment system crashes

If you're buying or selling a house today there’s bad news from the Bank of England. Its mortgage payment system collapsed this morning, leaving potentially thousands of homemovers stranded.

Australia monetary policy setting set to support demand growth: RBA

(Reuters) - Australia's monetary policy setting is currently configured to support growth in demand, a senior Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) official said on Monday.

Obama unveils new measures to stem identity theft

US President Barack Obama on Friday ordered "pin and chip" security measures for government payment systems, aiming to stem the proliferation of credit card fraud and identity theft.

Angela Merkel: the eurozone's one constant

Five years ago today, Greece’s then Prime Minister, George Papandreou, disclosed to the world that his country was in severe fiscal difficulties.

US factory figures help bring calm to markets after days of turmoil

Strong US factory output growth and the intervention of a senior American central bank official brought some relief to markets following three days of turmoil that have knocked billions of pounds off the value of the FTSE 100.

Banks told not to expect seamless global rules

(Reuters) - New global rules making the financial system safer won't be seamless and could be revised soon to help economic growth, senior government and regulatory officials said on Thursday.

UK inflation falls to five-year low of 1.2%

Inflation has slumped to its lowest rate for five years, hitting 1.2% in September and taking pressure off the Bank of England to raise interest rates in coming months.

Draghi’s ‘Whatever It Takes’ Plan Faces Trial at EU Court

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s pledge to do “whatever it takes” with a bond-buying plan to save the euro-area goes on trial before the European Union’s top judges today.

Income tax revenue could be lower than expected, finance watchdog says

Income tax revenues in the UK are likely to be lower than expected despite rising numbers of people in work, the official public finances watchdog has warned.

China's central bank sees 'very low' risk of hard landing

(Reuters) - The chance of a hard landing for China's economy is very small in spite of worries about the country's real-estate sector, the chief economist of the People's Bank of China said on Saturday.

Euro zone austerity is mostly over: ECB's Coeure

(Reuters) - Most European countries have already made efforts to consolidate public finances so a discussion on austerity policies in Europe is largely over, the European Central Bank's Executive Board member Benoit Coeure said on Friday.

Germany needs ‘small miracle’ to avoid recession after exports fall by 5.8%

German exports suffered the biggest monthly fall in more than five and a half years in August, leaving Europe’s largest economy in need of “a small miracle” to avoid recession in the third quarter.

BoJ has many policy easing options if needed: Kuroda

(Reuters) - The Bank of Japan has many tools available if it were to ease monetary policy further, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said, adding that the Japanese government bond (JGB) market is a "huge" one among various financial assets the central bank can tap.

Prolonged German downturn could prompt stimulus rethink

(Reuters) - The last thing the faltering European economy would appear to need right now is a sudden downturn in Germany, hitherto the bloc's pillar of strength.

British economy grew by 0.7% in third quarter, says NIESR

Britain’s economic recovery lost steam in the third quarter with growth of 0.7%, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

Japan PM, Finance Minister unalarmed by weak yen for now

(Reuters) - Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso said the yen, which struck a six-year low against the dollar last week, was not particularly weak, while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the currency's decline was both good and bad for the economy.

On Manufacturing Day, share of sector’s employment sinks to new low

Every politician likes to talk about manufacturing, because it’s shorthand for decent, middle-class jobs. And it’s appropriate topic to talk about on Friday, since Oct. 3 has been dubbed “National Manufacturing Day” by President Barack Obama.

Russian Inflation Rate Surges to Highest in Three Years

Russian inflation accelerated to the fastest pace in three years, putting pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates even as economic growth shrivels.

U.S. trade deficit narrows on rise in exports

Oct 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. trade gap unexpectedly narrowed in August to its smallest level in seven months on an increase in exports, supporting views of sturdy economic growth in the third quarter.

BOE Signs Off Housing Stimulus as FPC Requests More Powers

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s housing initiative doesn’t pose a risk to financial stability, the Bank of England said today as it asked the government for more powers to limit mortgage lending.

Fed to publish new U.S. labor market index monthly starting October 6

(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve will begin publishing a new monthly index of U.S. labor market conditions on Monday, October 6, that draws on a range of data to give a better sense of the economy's health.

RBS shares jump as bank’s bad debts improve

Royal Bank of Scotland is erasing £800m of bad debt provisions because of a dramatic improvement in its Irish operations and other troublesome areas of its business.