UK

Pension and severance payments totalling £412,000 handed to the former chief executive of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) have been ruled "irregular" by the National Audit Office (NAO).

Royal Bank of Scotland has posted a pre-tax loss of £1.2bn in the third quarter, as it sets aside a further £400m to cover PPI mis-selling claims.

The IMA's latest sales figures show investors are returning to risk assets, as net retail sales of equities outstripped fixed income funds for the first time in a year.

The surprise 1% rise in UK GDP in Q3 points to only a slight improvement in the economy's growth outlook, according to forecasters.

F&C Asset Management has reported a drop in AUM between the second and third quarters as it continues to see outflows from its wholesales arm and Thames River.

Banking giant UBS could cut thousands of jobs in London and a total of 10,000 worldwide as part of a plan to split its operations.

The growing number of off-exchange trading platforms is changing the way fund managers buy and sell shares, according to Nigel Thomas, manager of the £3.3bn AXA Framlington UK Select Opportunities fund.

David McCorkell, head of investment management at Brewin Dolphin, has retired with immediate effect.

Oliver Brind has joined Walker Crips as a director on the investment management team.

The senior regulator who will be in charge of supervising banks has warned that institutions will still be allowed to fail, despite more rigorous oversight of the businesses under the new regime.