European Union officials have agreed the key criteria of stress tests for the bloc's banks including the minimum level of capital, EU sources said, as senior policymakers voiced optimism on the results. Banks will need to have a core Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6 percent under the health check, one of the

Germany's economy will likely have grown significantly more in the second quarter than in the first, the Finance Ministry said on Monday, adding that the recovery should strengthen in the second half of the year. In its monthly report, the ministry said the improved growth in Europe's largest economy was partly due to a pick-up

Ratings agency Moody's said on Monday it had downgraded Ireland's sovereign bond ratings rating to Aa2 from Aa1 with a stable outlook. "Today's downgrade is primarily driven by the Irish government's gradual but significant loss of financial strength, as reflected by its deteriorating debt affordability," Dietmar Hornung, Moody's Senior Credit Officer and lead analyst for

Bank of Ireland said on Friday that it would cut 5 percent of its staff and maintain a pay freeze as part of the conditions for European Union approval of its restructuring plan earlier this week. Ireland's biggest bank by market value received 3.5 billion euros ($4.45 billion) of capital and other state aid last

Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $550 mln to settle civil fraud charges over how it marketed a subprime mortgage product, ending months of negotiations that rattled the bank's clients and investors. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the penalty was the largest ever for a financial institution, and leaves the door open for future

There should be no "big catastrophes" from stress tests on European banks but the reviews should be tough, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, was quoted as saying. "I am not expecting any big catastrophes," he told Austrian newspaper Kurier. "But there cannot be any glossing over, the tests are based on

Oil is no longer spewing into the Gulf of Mexico — at least temporarily — as BP Plc said it choked off the flow from its undersea well that ruptured in April and caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. BP said it stopped the leak on Thursday with the tight-sealing containment cap

Agricultural Bank of China's $19.3 bln IPO limped across the finish line on Friday after a hectic three-month sprint, its modest Hong Kong debut gains reflecting valuations concerns and tough markets. The long-awaited offering marks the final step in Beijing's effort to list its top four banks, and removes a giant overhang for China's stock