AstraZeneca has penned a licensing deal with a US biotechnology group that could see the UK’s second biggest drugs group pay up to $735m for two constipation treatments.

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US officials in Florida today seized a 56-foot sports fishing boat belonging to disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff, which was docked at a local marina, a marina employee said.

Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty today to charges he orchestrated the biggest financial swindle in Wall Street history, cheating investors out of billions of dollars in a fraud that shocked the public and drew demands for stricter regulations.

An investigation was launched today into the British activities of alleged multi-billion-pound fraudster Bernard Madoff.

Financial giants revealed potential losses of almost £4 billion today as they joined a queue of investors caught up in an alleged fraud by investment manager Bernard Madoff.

Tullett Prebon last night admitted it was in merger talks with rival GFI Group to create one of the two largest interdealer brokers in the world.

The London Stock Exchange has fired a broadside in the battle for domination in European shares trading, as it prepares to launch an electronic trading platform with Lehman Brothers which will go head-to-head with rivals from September.

The price war among the exchanges in Europe intensified yesterday as the transatlantic powerhouse NYSE Euronext slashed its fees to help repel competition from three rival markets preparing to launch this year.

Shares in the London Stock Exchange (LSE) crashed to a near-52-week low on Friday ahead of a trading statement this week that will show the extent to which the credit crunch is biting into revenues.

The Qatar Investment Authority is understood to want to increase its stake in the London Stock Exchange, possibly by trying to buy the holding owned by its rival, the Dubai Borse. Sources close to the exchange say that Qatar, which owns a 14 per cent shareholding, is interested in picking up Dubai's 20 per cent stake, which it bought last year from Nasdaq after the US exchange's failed bid for the LSE.

Roger Draper, chief executive of the Lawn Tennis Association, soon hopes to secure a deal with the leading American coach Brad Gilbert to oversee the next phase of Andy Murray's career.