Dutch student Bram Talman has shot to fame in 24 hours after he unearthed the government's 2012 budget a day before it was due to be published, and broke the news about next year's economic forecasts. This year's budget was due to be presented on Friday Sep. 16, but on Thursday afternoon, Talman discovered it

Swiss bank UBS came under increasing pressure to shrink or sideline its investment bank business — source of a $2 bln rogue trading loss — as ratings agencies warned lax risk management could prompt downgrades. The bank is expected to announce a major restructuring involving the loss of thousands more jobs at an investor day

Oil was headed for a weekly gain on Friday after central banks launched coordinated action to boost European bank funding, easing concern about falling oil demand from industrialised consumers. Brent crude gained 56 cents to $112.86 in early trading, with the November contract up 1.7% this week. U.S. crude rose 19 cents to $89.59, up

Spain's lower house of Parliament passed the euro zone accord which lays out the terms of a second aid package for Greece and grants new powers for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) on Thursday. The changes are designed to increase the effective lending capacity of the EFSF to 440 bln euros ($601.3 bln) and

The planned listing of Spanish bank Santander's UK operations on the London Stock Exchange is likely to be delayed until 2013 at the earliest, the Financial Times said on Friday. The bank had already put off until at least next year its original plan for a 2011 flotation of its British arm, due to market

European shares were set for a stronger open on Friday and the euro steadied as investors hoped for a big policy move from European finance ministers to combat the region's growing debt crisis. Coordinated central bank action around the world to boost liquidity for European banks, at a time when some institutions have been shut

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner holds talks with European finance ministers on Friday on the possibility of leveraging the euro zone's bailout fund to help resolve the debt crisis. Washington set up an emergency fund to support U.S. lenders during the global credit crisis. With signs of stress in Europe now, the European Central Bank

European shares were set to rise for a fourth straight session on Friday following a coordinated central bank action to improve liquidity. "We may see markets continue to push higher on the back of these developments but we can't imagine it will be the beginning of a sustained move higher," said Ben Potter, strategist at

Greece will be stuck in recession for a fourth consecutive year in 2012, it's finance minister said on Thursday, revising previous government estimates that the downturn would bottom out this year. The decline in economic activity, made worse by austerity measures aimed at repairing public finances and stopping deficits, has topped projections. It has also