The FTSE has advanced more than 60 points on Tuesday as investors were buoyed by news of US tax cuts, but European debt fears were keeping a lid on sentiment ahead of the Irish budget.

The Irish Republic is poised to unveil the details of a severe austerity budget later, part of a deal to secure an €85bn bail-out from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.

A group of 700 Keydata SLS investors will start a legal case against a string of global financial institutions in January, claiming they watched over a multi-million pound theft from the fund and did nothing while collecting huge fees.

The FSA has cleared RBS of acting fraudulently during the purchase of ABN AMRO, but censured it for making a "series of bad decisions" in the run up to the financial crisis.

Non-executive director at Hargreaves Lansdown Jonathan Davis will join the ABI as director of investment affairs in the new year.

Lord Myners, the former City minister, has called on the Chancellor to prove his claim Britain was "on the brink of bankrupty" before the coalition government took over in May.

The RDR is not a 'panacea' for the investment market's problem but it is worth a third of IFAs leaving the industry, FSA chief executive Hector Sants has told ministers.

Tensions over banking policy between the Chancellor and the Business Secretary sparked back into life yesterday after Vince Cable issued a strongly worded response to George Osborne's hint the reforms could toned down.

The FTSE 100 opened down 1% this morning following sharp falls across most global markets on fears the Irish debt crisis could spread to other European countries.

A law firm which presided over the disappearance of €9.8m (£8.4m) from a global property fund sold through IFAs has been told it must pay back the missing money, a judge ruled today.