Richard Segal, the former chief executive of the listed online gambling giant PartyGaming, is believed to have been appointed executive chairman of troubled fitness club chain Esporta.

Lloyds Banking Group lagged behind its UK-focused peers last night, as brokers analysed the potential implications of the bank's plans to redeem Government-owned preference shares. Like other lenders, Lloyds has been on an upward trend, with its shares climbing by more than 40 per cent since the beginning of last month. But the tide may turn, if analysts at Société Générale are correct.

In the wake of the Madoff scandal and plummeting returns, the redoubtable fund manager is fighting for her reputation. Nick Clark reports

The embattled boss of Société Générale finally fell on his sword yesterday after months of blunt hints from France's President Nicolas Sarkozy that he should resign. Daniel Bouton, 59, said he would leave his job as president next week.

Standard Chartered was in focus yesterday after Société Générale advised investors to move out of the stock, arguing that a combination of falling revenues, rising bad loans and high costs weighed on the investment case.

Investment bank faces further investigation as trader is suspected of irregular dealing

Share prices have collapsed during the credit crunch, but the UK's benchmark indices understate the true havoc that's been wreaked upon the value of our largest companies. Nikhil Kumar reports

ITV retreated to another record low last night after analysts expressed caution about the broadcaster’s prospects as tougher trading conditions persist.

Regulator to impose a 'fit-and-proper person' test on all existing and new proprietary dealers

The man accused of losing his bank €5bn reveals the 'orgasmic pleasure' he got from playing the markets

The FTSE 100 was up 24.24 points at 4333.32 and the FTSE 250 climbed to 6300.77, up 49.72 points, at 11.36am.

A "sell" note from Société Générale depressed sentiment around Liberty International, the blue-chip property group, which fell back as the market surged yesterday.

The FTSE 100 was up 58.97 points at 4124.46 while the FTSE 250 advanced to 5862.9, up 32.51 points, at 11:53 am.

The supermarket group Tesco is pegged to unveil a slowdown in UK like-for-like sales growth when it publishes a third-quarter update tomorrow. The company's non-food exposure and the introduction of more than 350 discount brands in September is expected to depress growth to bet-ween 1 and 2 per cent excluding fuel, compared with 4.1 per cent in the same period last year.