BP will not pay dividends for the remainder of the year after being forced to put $20bn (£13.5bn) into a compensation fund for victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The new Government has announced plans for a total shake-up of financial services regulation to conclude in 2012, which is also the deadline for IFAs to meet RDR requirements.

Standard Life and Zurich are two of the major winners in this year's International Fund and Product Awards organised by Professional Adviser.

Chancellor George Osborne is set to reveal this week the Bank of England will take overall charge of regulation of the financial sector and have "oversight" across the FSA.

Resolution Group, the consolidation vehicle which bought Friends Provident last year, is in talks to buy AXA UK's annuity, protection and group pensions business for £2.75bn.

Prime Minister David Cameron is set to deliver his starkest warning yet about the action needed to tackle Britain's budget deficit and public debt.

Guy Naggar and Peter Klimt, whose Dawnay Day property investment business collapsed during the credit crunch leaving creditors out of pocket, have bagged a windfall of nearly £44m.

George Osborne is preparing to unveil a range of key-opt outs to CGT rises, including for Britons approaching retirement, as opposition grows against a blanket tax hike.

The euro will have broken up before the end of this Parliamentary term, according to the majority of economists surveyed by The Sunday Telegraph.

The FTSE 100 had a strong start to the day, up 1.15% to 5095.78, despite weaker news from the US overnight with the Dow closing below the 10,000 mark.