Clive Cowdery, the self-made insurance tycoon who gives away much of his wealth, is considering a surprise bid for the 630 bank branches being sold by Lloyds Banking Group.

Worries over the eurozone debt crisis have prompted the Ernst & Young Item Club to cut its forecast for GDP growth this year from 1.8% to 1.4%.

Man Group is to acquire the remaining exposure to the estates of bankrupt US investment giant Lehman Brothers from funds managed by its subsidiary, GLG Partners, for $355m (£220.4m) in cash.

Ratings agency Moody's has said it may cut the US AAA debt rating, pointing to the "rising possibility" the US will default on its debt obligations.

Ratings agency Moody's has cut the Republic of Ireland's debt rating to junk status.

Hector Sants, the current chief executive of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), and Bank of England governor Mervyn King have been named among the most influential people in the European capital markets.

Rupert Murdoch's takeover of BSkyB appeared to be dead in the water last night following allegations executives at his British newspaper empire mounted a cover-up of the full scale of criminal activity at the News of the World.

Senior European Union (EU) officials are set to meet later on Monday to discuss the eurozone's continuing debt woes.

Thursday newspaper round-up: Lehman Brothers secretly borrowed billions of dollars from the US Federal Reserve months before the investment bank filed for bankruptcy, it has emerged.

The downgrading of Portugal's debt to 'junk' status by Moody's earlier this week has led to renewed criticism, this time from the European Commission (EC), of the role and behaviour of credit ratings agencies.