News

The Treasury has sold Northern Rock plc to a consortium led by Richard Branson's Virgin Money for £747m, at a £650m loss on the £1.4bn of capital it injected into the bank.

Moody's has downgraded the credit ratings of a number of German public-sector banks, saying there is a lower likelihood the German government will step in with a bailout.

Santander's offer to buy back junior debt from bondholders has drawn criticism from analysts who accused the Spanish bank of trying to lock in a profit at the expense of investors.

Gold ETFs and similar products witnessed inflows of 77.6 tonnes in the third quarter of 2011, which was 58% above year-earlier levels of 49.1 tonnes.

The FSA said it hopes a consultation paper on the treatment of commission on legacy assets has "put to bed" any confusion on the issue, but it warned product providers yet to adapt their systems face an arduous task preparing for the rule change.

Schroders' Richard Buxton has warned investors the chances of the FTSE 100 breaking through the 6,000 level within the next 12 to 18 months is remote.

US inflation has fallen for the first time since June with the consumer price index falling 0.1% in October after rising 0.3% in September.

The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude hit a near-four month high this afternoon after rising shortly before US equity markets opened.

Wealth manager Ashcourt Rowan is to receive an £8.5m cash injection designed to strengthen the company's balance sheet and help it realise its ambitions in the financial advice space.

The eurozone debt crisis has forced the managers of the Waverton Asia Pacific fund to abandon their growth strategy in favour of defensive stocks after a dire period for performance.