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London equities ended slightly higher on Tuesday as solid US housing data outweighed Moody's decision to strip France of its coveted triple-A credit rating.

Banking giant HSBC said Monday it was in talks to sell its stake in China's Ping An Insurance Group, the country's second-largest life insurer by premiums.

Financial regulators on Sunday issued a series of recommendations to regulate the non-bank or "shadow" financial sector, which was estimated to be worth $67 trillion (52.5 trillion euros) in 2011.

London shares closed weaker on Friday as investors focused on upcoming US budget talks needed to avert a fiscal crisis that could see hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts tip the world's biggest economy into recession.

Britain could lose the £66 billion ($105 billion, 82 billion euros) it spent on rescuing Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group and made key errors over failed lender Northern Rock, lawmakers said on Friday.

Britain could lose the £66 billion ($105 billion, 82 billion euros) it spent on rescuing Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group and made key errors over failed lender Northern Rock, lawmakers said on Friday.

London shares closed in the red on Thursday following news that the 17-nation eurozone economy fell into recession in the third quarter as a result of the region's sovereign debt crisis.

The Dexia board on Wednesday announced it had endorsed an amended plan to dismantle the ailing Franco-Belgian bank and will call an extraordinary meeting next month for shareholders to do the same.

Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest bank, and Mizuho Financial Group on Wednesday reported double-digit tumbles in first-half net profit, due partly to declines in their stock holdings.

Mizuho Financial Group, one of Japan's biggest banks, said on Wednesday net profit in the six months to September fell 27.6 percent year on year to 184.3 billion yen ($2.3 billion).

Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena reported a loss of 47.4 million euros ($60.3 million) in the third quarter and of 1.664 billion euros for the first nine months of the year.

Bailed-out Bank of Ireland raised one billion euros ($1.27 billion) on Tuesday in its biggest foray into the bond market in over three years.

London shares closed higher on Tuesday, led by a surge in ITV shares after the television company's latest trading update, dealers said.

Germany's top bank, Deutsche Bank, said Monday it would continue to run a museum for contemporary art in Berlin without its erstwhile partner, New York's Guggenheim Foundation.

Chinese banks lent less money for a second straight month in October, data showed Monday, as the country's banking regulator acknowledged that bad loans have spiked this year.

The Out on the Street conference of Wall Street leaders which first met in 2011 is holding its first European event. The Out on the Street conference of Wall Street leaders which first met in 2011 is holding its first European event. Out on the Street: Europe will take place in London on Tuesday, November 13. Out on the Street member organizations include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, KKR, KPMG, Morgan Stanley and UBS. The one-day summit will focus on ?business opportunities and leadership strategies for and within the LBGT community,? organizers said. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the group's work in a letter to attendees. ?The United States is committed to advancing the human rights of LGBT persons around the world, and through the Global Equality Fund that I launched on International Rights Day 2011, we are pursuing innovative models on collaborative, effective assistance to the LGBT community,? Cli

Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse will stick with its investment bank and does not plan a major overhaul similar to the one recently announced by UBS, the bank's chairman said in an interview published Saturday.

The US Treasury announced Friday that it would not implement the Basel III rules for strengthening banks on January 1, saying the banks were not yet ready to meet the tougher capital standards.

London shares closed steady on Friday as gains in Rolls-Royce and International Consolidated Airlines helped offset gloom about the economic outlook for the United States and the eurozone.

National Australia Bank has agreed to pay Aus$115 million (US$119 million) to settle a class action brought by shareholders over the lender's exposure to toxic US mortgage assets.