Guy Hands has warned that private equity firms will have to inject €450bn of new cash into existing portfolio companies to "stabilise earlier funds".

Germany is facing a moment of strategic truth. The sacred union with France that has held together through thick and thin for half a century is in growing danger as contagion spreads North, engulfing the French bond market.

Angela Merkel said she would "give up a piece of national sovereignty" to save the euro, amid explosive rows between Germany and its neighbours over bail-outs, fiscal policy and financial taxes.

PARIS/ROME (Reuters) - France and Germany, Europe's two central powers, clashed on Wednesday over whether the European Central Bank should intervene more forcefully to halt the euro zone's accelerating debt crisis after modest bond purchases failed to calm markets.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets and the euro slid on Wednesday after the European Central Bank's buying of regional sovereign debt failed to stem a bond sell-off in the euro zone or to calm fears the debt crisis was spreading.

The International Monetary Fund's crucial head of its European Department, which oversees its giant bail-outs of Greece, Portugal and Ireland, has resigned, the Fund announced this evening.

Andrew McCree, the chief executive of AEA Technology, has resigned as the energy consultancy sounded its second profit warning in seven months.

Game Group shares look as if they had been shot to pieces by Richtofen, the evil sociopath in the Modern Warfare 3 video game.

Santander's offer to buy back junior debt from bondholders has drawn criticism from analysts who accused the Spanish bank of trying to lock in a profit at the expense of investors.

Employment experts say the Government is "not justified" in blaming the eurozone crisis for the surge in the number of young people out of work, which has broken through the 1m barrier for the first time since 1986.

Sir Mervyn King had good reason to leap to the defence of his friends in Frankfurt, argues Jeremy Warner.

It's got a grandiose name, but you'd be forgiven for not having heard of the Congressional Super Deficit Committee.

LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mervyn King lent his support on Wednesday to the government's austerity plan, which has come under increasing attack as the economy teeters on the brink of recession and unemployment soars.

LONDON, NOV 16 - Unemployment in Britain hit its highest in 15 years and the number of young people out of work soared to a record of more than 1 million, adding to pressure on the government to do more to support a faltering economy.

Retailer competing in a fast-moving industry also hit by piracy.

France and Germany clashed on Wednesday over whether the European Central Bank (ECB) should intervene more forcefully to halt the eurozone's accelerating debt crisis.

Britain's unemployment figures made for grim reading, but City scribes were feeling optimistic about the outlook for recruitment businesses.

LONDON (Reuters) - After yet another rollercoaster session, the top share index ended a touch lower on Wednesday, as upbeat U.S. economic data proved a welcome distraction for investors gripped by concern over the UK economy and Europe's debt crisis.

Seafrance, the troubled French ferry company, was put into liquidation by a Paris commercial court which rejected two bids to save the cross-Channel operator.

(Reuters) Thousands of former MF Global Holdings Ltd customers may soon recover $520 million (329.4 million pounds) of cash held in their accounts at the bankrupt brokerage, and a U.S. futures regulator called for robust oversight to limit the potential for another collapse.