Vince Cable, the new Business Secretary, has placed tackling tax avoidance by businesses at the top of his list of priorities.

Prudential was last night hoping to be in a position to finally launch a UK record $21bn (£14bn) rights issue today to fund a proposed takeover of Asian rival AIA.

BP has finally had a degree of success in its attempt to stem the calamitous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP has finally had a degree of success in its attempt to stem the calamitous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as the Obama administration continues to demand that the UK oil giant commits to paying the full price of the disaster.

As 5,000 barrels of oil gush into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's leaking Macondo well each day, you might expect the price of crude to be rising on concerns about higher costs and tighter regulation for the energy majors.

The Jessops chief executive is aiming to give staff a shot of his own energy as he looks to revive the camera chain

Royal Bank of Scotland is in exclusive talks to buy Whiteaway Laidlaw, a tiny Manchester-based business bank.

So here we are with a surprise coming together. They have buried their differences and plighted their troth. Mind you, this is the honeymoon period. There is no guarantee that the amity will last.

Jean-Claude Trichet tells us the world faced a second Lehman crash in the days and hours before EU leaders launched their €720bn (£612bn) defence fund. If the European Central Bank's president is correct, we are in trouble. The EU-IMF package is already unravelling. What will the West do for its next trick?

Management expert John Timpson learns lessons from the failure of high street rivals, considers the merits of disaster planning and tackles the management challenges of running your business under capacity.

During the general election, the housing crisis barely got a mention. That is going to have to change very soon because of the importance of home ownership to so many people in this country.

ROME (Reuters) - A deficit cutting package in Italy, worth 27.6 billion euros (23.5 billion pounds) over two years, will include measures similar to those announced by other European nations, Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti was quoted as saying.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=YSl_PUqUEd8:o94JnzkwzbY:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=YSl_PUqUEd8:o94JnzkwzbY:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=YSl_PUqUEd8:o94JnzkwzbY:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=YSl_PUqUEd8:o94JnzkwzbY:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=YSl_PUqUEd8:o94JnzkwzbY:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Reuters/UKBusinessNews/~4/YSl_PUqUEd8" height="1" width="1"/

LONDON (Reuters) - The union for British Airways cabin crew said it had reached agreement in principle with the airline over a cost-cutting row which has caused a series of strikes and threatens more stoppages this week.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=ZK92W4CjuxE:DCoyizhNEho:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=ZK92W4CjuxE:DCoyizhNEho:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=ZK92W4CjuxE:DCoyizhNEho:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=ZK92W4CjuxE:DCoyizhNEho:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=ZK92W4CjuxE:DCoyizhNEho:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Reuters/UKBusinessNews/~4/ZK92W4CjuxE" height="1" width="1"/

BERLIN/HELSINKI (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that a massive EU rescue plan had only bought the euro zone time to tackle its fundamental problem -- a yawning gap between its strongest and weakest economies.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=cwGb8CGiL-8:ncyZeNOmEW8:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=cwGb8CGiL-8:ncyZeNOmEW8:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=cwGb8CGiL-8:ncyZeNOmEW8:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=cwGb8CGiL-8:ncyZeNOmEW8:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=cwGb8CGiL-8:ncyZeNOmEW8:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Reuters/UKBusinessNews/~4/cwGb8CGiL-8" height="1" width="1"/

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece may investigate U.S. investment banks and their role in the run-up to the Greek debt crisis which has shaken faith in euro zone economies, Prime Minister George Papandreou said in comments broadcast on Sunday.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=3f013JxnWa0:U3hj97gZhO0:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=3f013JxnWa0:U3hj97gZhO0:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=3f013JxnWa0:U3hj97gZhO0:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=3f013JxnWa0:U3hj97gZhO0:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=3f013JxnWa0:U3hj97gZhO0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Reuters/UKBusinessNews/~4/3f013JxnWa0" height="1" width="1"/

LONDON (Reuters) - The owners of Peacocks, the fashion chain, are considering selling the business for around 600 million pounds, according to the Sunday Times.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=aiTA6CHTR08:DwQQ8N5kxHM:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=aiTA6CHTR08:DwQQ8N5kxHM:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=aiTA6CHTR08:DwQQ8N5kxHM:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=aiTA6CHTR08:DwQQ8N5kxHM:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=aiTA6CHTR08:DwQQ8N5kxHM:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Reuters/UKBusinessNews/~4/aiTA6CHTR08" height="1" width="1"/

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will seek to conclude trade agreements with several Latin American countries and revive stalled negotiations with others when 60 European and Latin America countries meet this week in Madrid.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=toPnbgJuUI0:9yw4hO3ypUs:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=toPnbgJuUI0:9yw4hO3ypUs:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=toPnbgJuUI0:9yw4hO3ypUs:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=toPnbgJuUI0:9yw4hO3ypUs:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=toPnbgJuUI0:9yw4hO3ypUs:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Reuters/UKBusinessNews/~4/toPnbgJuUI0" height="1" width="1"/

LONDON (Reuters) - Switzerland-based oil trader Trafigura is planning a 1 billion pounds flotation of its industrial assets, though will look to retain a minority stake in the listed group, the Sunday Telegraph reported.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=zM10_zw-eRw:7KRpogi5HHc:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=zM10_zw-eRw:7KRpogi5HHc:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=zM10_zw-eRw:7KRpogi5HHc:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=zM10_zw-eRw:7KRpogi5HHc:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=zM10_zw-eRw:7KRpogi5HHc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Reuters/UKBusinessNews/~4/zM10_zw-eRw" height="1" width="1"/

ZURICH (Reuters) - UBS Ngt; could face lawsuits in the United States if the Swiss parliament fails to agree to a deal passing data on the bank's U.S. clients to U.S. tax authorities, Switzerland's finance minister said.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=iVpsaChEDd0:UTMXv1Cp5p4:yIl2AUoC8zA"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=iVpsaChEDd0:UTMXv1Cp5p4:F7zBnMyn0Lo"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=iVpsaChEDd0:UTMXv1Cp5p4:F7zBnMyn0Lo" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?a=iVpsaChEDd0:UTMXv1Cp5p4:V_sGLiPBpWU"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Reuters/UKBusinessNews?i=iVpsaChEDd0:UTMXv1Cp5p4:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Reuters/UKBusinessNews/~4/iVpsaChEDd0" height="1" width="1"/