Chancellor George Osborne's attempts to cling onto the nation's triple-A credit rating look doomed but the loss would be "symbolic, not catastrophic", the UK's biggest bank says.

The Sunday Times

Decision pushes country close to default again but President vows not to cough up the cash

At some level a man who can gamble away $2bn – at one point his losses were closer to $12bn – must be an interesting and clever man.

Bankers looking for a career boost are facing up to a clear choice: go East. With City job losses soaring finance workers are looking to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore for new opportunities.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's efforts to give his citizens a better night's sleep and ease stress for the nation's farm animals are undermining his push to make Moscow a global financial centre.

Retirees suffer a higher rate of inflation, so it's vital they make the most of their pension pot

The Analyst

BP will pay the biggest criminal penalty in US legal history by some distance after reaching a $4.5bn (£2.9bn) settlement with American authorities over the Gulf of Mexico spill.

Billions of pounds invested by pension funds, City institutions and retail investors could be hit by a looming "Armageddon" in the bond markets, it emerged yesterday.

Experts warn of liquidity problems in the popular £250bn sector

There's been an investor flight to safety in the past year with corporate bond funds in particular seen as a steady home for institutional and retail investors uncomfortable with some of the wild fluctuations we've experienced in equity markets.

Report claims United owner owner Malcolm Glazer initially did not disclose the true state of the finances before its recent initial public offering

Outlook So now along with the advent calendar, cut-out clock and toy lorry you can get an Eddie Stobart bond paying 5.5 per cent! That'll go down well in the haulier's souvenir shop. The launch of said bond, aimed directly at retail investors, is serendipitous: it came on the same day inflation figures provided a nasty shock with the consumer prices index at an unexpectedly high 2.7 per cent.