LUISS Guido Carli University

Guaranteed bonuses accounted for about 5% of the bonuses paid out for 2009 at 37 leading financial companies surveyed by the Institute of International Finance

Hewlett-Packard appeared to have won the bidding battle for data storage technology company 3Par after Dell said on Thursday it would not raise its offer and was ending talks

Warning given over British banks moving their headquarters abroad if UK government-appointed Commission on Banking were to decide that big groups should be broken up

Leading UK and continental European companies eschewing banks from Spain, Italy and even Germany because they do not believe the Europe-wide assessments gave a true picture of their financial health

Traders are again adding to risky bets following a batch of supportive US data, but the mood is markedly less ebullient than witnessed during the previous session’s “melt up”, when better-than-expected Chinese and American factory data powered a wholesale rush into stocks

The European Central Bank forecast that the eurozone would expand this year and in 2011 much more strongly than previously expected, ruling out a double dip back into recession

The European Union reached a long-awaited agreement on reform of financial supervision, paving the way for the establishment of three pan-EU watchdogs to oversee controls on banks and insurers in the region from next year

The Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to negotiate a “framework” for peace talks and to hold a second direct meeting in two weeks’ time

The singer and campaigner for aid to the continent is seeking to raise money from institutional investors for a private equity venture on the continent

Russia announced a 12-month extension of its grain export ban, raising fears about a return to the food shortages and riots of 2007-08 which spread through developing countries dependent on imports

An oil platform 80 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on Thursday, sparking a rapid search and rescue helicopter response that recovered 13 people, the US Coast Guard said

General David Petraeus, the head of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, defended Hamid Karzai, the country’s president, after controversy over Kabul’s stance on corruption

Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, expressed regret for not being “more straightforward” with Congress in 2008 when he avoided saying that the central bank had no means to save Lehman Brothers.

New claims for jobless benefits in the US fell last week but still remain above the level economists say is necessary to create jobs

Burger King has agreed to be acquired by 3G, an investment fund backed by three of Brazil’s foremost businessmen, in a deal valued at $4bn including debt

Foreign companies are losing market share in China across a broad range of industries because of discriminatory treatment by the government and regulators, according to the European Chamber of Commerce in China

A division of Italy’s Fiat group is recalling all 1,248 cars of the 458 Italia model after reports that five of the supercars caught fire because of glue in the wheel-arch leaking on to the exhaust

Royal Bank of Scotland is axing another 3,500 jobs, taking to almost 27,000 the number of staff cut since Stephen Hester took over as chief executive of the troubled UK bank

Sweden’s central bank raises interest rates for the second time in two months, highlighting the strong recovery in its economy as the centre-right government battles for re-election

The digital entertainment company made its most serious bid yet for the internet-connected television market, slashing the price and size of its AppleTV product by more than half