COMPANIES

Chancellor George Osborne's threat to break-up UK banks adds pressure to shares as FTSE tumbles from near five year high

Lawyers say RBS and Lloyds could legally receive a fine discount on Libor manipulation due to being mostly owned by the taxpayer

Swatch Group posts 26% increase in net income due to higher sales and better margins.

Chancellor will tell banks in speech at JP Morgan that lenders that flout new ring fence rules will be broken up.

Panasonic stocks climb nearly 17% after the firm reported £421m net income for the three months ending December.

Departure comes as bank faces SFO and FSA probe into 2008 deal with Qatar Investment Authority.

Valve Software, the makers of the hugely popular Half-Life video game series, are being sued by a German consumer agency.

Hackers gain access to user names, passwords and email addresses.

Consortium includes Michael Dell, Silver Lake Partners and Microsoft.

George Osborne insists possible fines imposed on RBS by US authorities should be met by the bankers, not taxpayers.

Dubbed the Victorian pleasure palace, one of London's most offbeat and decadent venues is explored by Lianna Brinded.

Barclays new CEO will not take a bonus for last year, following a spate of Libor and mis-selling scandals

Ratings agency Fitch says that Britain's biggest banks' will be hit by the redress costs but not as much as PPI payouts

Iconic cab maker bought out of administration by China's Geely Automobile for a debt-free £11m.

France's third largest bank tries to calm investors on its €2.68bn writedown, saying it will not impact on its core capital

Samsung's chairman faces accusations of hiding the family fortune from his siblings and other relatives.

Group adds 122,000 broadband customers as it plans deeper push into sports broadcasting.

Financial details of deal which includes patents, trademarks and leftover stocks not revealed.

Politicians, lawyers and business experts warn SMEs of further hurdles in bank review process.

Disgruntled HMV staff briefly took to Twitter to announce their own firing using the company's official account.

China has denied claims that hackers infiltrated The New York Times newspaper editorial department. Following the publication of an article, which looked into the family wealth of the newly elected Premier Wen Jiabao.

Europe’s biggest oil company’s stock price gets hit on disappointing profits and cautious outlook to investors.

Europe's biggest bank sets aside €10bn to cover legal and restructuring costs as Libor investigation looms.

The airline has cancelled 459 flights in January due to the apparent battery issue.

Spain's biggest lender sees profits fall by 59 percent as the country's housing market collapse hits hard.

Banks face potentially huge compensation costs following FSA's highly anticipated Pilot Scheme results

World's biggest planemaker notches up record earnings and order backlog.

Retail giant to use DNA testing to quell doubts on meat content.

Europe’s largest bank tries to bolster its risk management and financial crime supervision with its hard hitting new hire