BP has reached agreements with 100,000 individual plaintiffs to resolve claims from the 2010 oil spill - costing the company $7.8bn.

A former member of the Monetary Policy Committee has claimed Bank of England governor Mervyn King was "unprepared for the crisis" that wrecked the world economy and "controlled the bank with an iron fist."

Fund managers have increased cash positions significantly in the last month as investors scale back their risk-taking, a recent survey found.

Goldman Sachs posted a 23% drop in profits in the first quarter of the year but managed to beat analysts' expectations, after a rebound in trading and credit markets boosted its revenue.

UK banks were making solid gains early this morning, lifting the wider FTSE 100 index, having been sold-off yesterday on eurozone fears.

Kestrel has launched a global multi-asset fund for chief executive and fund manager John Ricciardi, assisted by Max Royle.

BlackRock is overhauling the investment objective of its Global Equity fund and plans to boost exposure to emerging market equities.

Wealth manager Williams de Broë will be renamed Investec Wealth and Investment following last year's takeover of the group.

BlackRock's Bob Doll has warned equities look due a correction in the near term, but said any sell-off would likely be short-lived, with the global outlook little changed by recent events.

EMs