Business Diary: Pru boss comes out fighting in US

Broadly speaking, it is fair to say that Prudential's American shareholders have been rather more supportive of the insurer during its difficulties over the past few weeks than those based in London. So where did Tidjane Thiam, the beleaguered chief executive of the Pru, choose to do his first set-piece interview following the collapse of his takeover of Asian insurance giant AIA? On the US business channel CNBC, of course.

France's rogue trader on trial

Get ready for some fun. The trial of Jerome Kerviel, accused of bringing Société Générale to its knees with a spate of unauthorised trading, is due to begin in Paris

tomorrow, and the Frenchman, 33, left, has no intention of going quietly. "I'm innocent," he told Bloomberg Television at the end of last month. "I want to prove to everybody that my superiors knew what I was doing and helped me to do it, to make more money for the bank."

Pedal power at Northern Rock

Word reaches us of the Northern Rock Cyclone, a trio of cycle rides for charity taking place in the North-East next weekend. Generously sponsored by the state-backed bank, last year's rides raised more than £150,000 for charity. It's good to see an organisation that was itself down on its luck not so long ago giving something back now it's in a position to help. For more details, visit www.northerrockcyclone.co.uk

Your chance to beat the banks

As if those competitive folk in the City didn't have enough to fight over, Kaggle, the website for those fascinated by all things statistics-related, has started a competition for investment bankers who want to predict World Cup results. We've already seen modelling exercises from the likes of Goldman Sachs, UBS and Danske Bank, but this battle is open to amateur statisticians too. There are even some small cash prizes available. Have fun.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk