The leader of Greece's conservative opposition has asked Prime Minister George Papandreou to stand down and agree to a commonly accepted new head of government, a source from the New Democracy party told Reuters. "(New Democracy leader) Mr. Samaras asked Papandreou to resign and for a commonly accepted person to be appointed as the new

U.S securities brokers would be more closely scrutinized by auditors and be subject to stricter rules on how they handle their customers' assets under a plan proposed by federal regulators on Wednesday. The proposal by the Securities and Exchange Commission is meant to improve oversight of broker-dealers in the wake of Bernard Madoff's massive Ponzi

ECB policymakers talked up hopes a 2009 debt deal that helped stabilise central Europe might offer a model for a Greek rescue, but a rating agency said that risked taking the country to the brink of default. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said he hoped the 'Vienna Initiative', in which banks agreed to maintain their exposure to

An agreement on a new financing package for Greece should be reached by July 11 at the latest, Slovak Finance Minister Ivan Miklos said on Wednesday, suggesting possible slippage on the timing of an agreement. Euro zone finance ministers made little progress toward a deal on a second bailout package for Athens on Tuesday, but

Standard & Poor's has lowered the long-term counterparty credit ratings to 'CCC' from 'B' on the four main Greek banks, following Monday’s cut in Greece’s long-term sovereign rating also to ‘CCC’. The rating agency said Wednesday that the financial profiles of National Bank of Greece, EFG Eurobank, Alpha Bank and Piraeus Bank “are exposed to

Spain's Economy Minister Elena Salgado said on Wednesday she expected Greece to receive funds to meet its July and August debt obligations. Tuesday's meeting with her euro zone peers had been positive, and the next meeting of finance ministers this Sunday would deliver positive results. "In the very short term it means that funds for

Edgy investors ditched lower-rated euro zone government debt on Wednesday, sending Greek bond yields soaring to new highs after officials showed little sign of progress on a new deal to tackle Greece's crisis. Differences of opinion between policymakers on how to involve private holders of Greece's debt in a new bailout package have heightened uncertainty