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• Greek Poll Shows Anti-bailout Faction Still Leading
  Greece's anti-bailout leftist SYRIZA party is maintaining its poll lead ahead of a June 17 election that is deemed critical to the country's continued membership of the euro zone, a poll showed on Thursday. Greece was forced to call a repeat election after a May 6 vote left...
• Weaker China Bank Loans Reveal Severity of Slowdown
  China's biggest banks may fall short of loan targets for the first time in at least seven years as an economic slowdown crimps demand for credit, three bank officials with knowledge of the matter said. A decline in lending in April and May means it s likely the banks total...
• More Eurozone Governments Gird for Greek Exit
  At least half of eurozone governments as well as banks and large companies are making contingency plans in case Greece decides to leave the single currency area, even though the preferred option is still for Athens to keep the euro. Italy's Deputy Economy Minister Vittorio...
• Moody’s Affirms Negative View on France
  Moody's Investors Service said the new French government's plan to control the nation's debt is positive for its credit outlook and the country needs to implement those measures successfully to keep its Aaa grade. The new administration's strong commitment to the...
• FDIC: US Banks' Profits Climbed 23% in 1st Quarter
  U.S. banks and thrifts had net income of $35.3 billion in the first quarter, increasing earnings by 22.9 percent over the same period in 2011 as loan losses declined, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. Lenders set aside $14.3 billion to cover bad loans, and their...
• UK Revises GDP Figures to Show Deeper Contraction
  The U.K. economy shrank more than initially estimated in the first quarter after construction was revised to show a deeper slump, which may bolster the case for the Bank of England to restart bond purchases. Gross domestic product fell 0.3 percent, compared with a 0.2...
• German Business Sentiment Turns Gloomier
  German business sentiment collapsed in May and the manufacturing sector shrank as turmoil in the eurozone unsettled firms, threatening to end the immunity of Europe's largest economy to the troubles surrounding it. Germany's "Teflon economy" has so far avoided the fate of...
• EU Urges Greece to Stay in Euro, but Plans for Possible Exit
  European Union leaders, advised by senior officials to prepare contingency plans in case Greece decides to quit the single currency, urged the country to stay the course on austerity and complete the reforms demanded under its bailout program. After nearly six hours of...
• Spain Bails Out Bankia, Seeks Plan for Troubled Regions
  Spain announced a 9 billion euro ($11 billion) bailout for troubled lender Bankia on Wednesday, while also seeking ways to help its highly indebted regions meet huge refinancing needs that threaten to drag the country deeper into the eurozone crisis. The country's weak...
• ECB: Greek Bank Recapitalizations to Finish ’Shortly’
  The European Central Bank said it expects the recapitalization of Greek banks to be concluded soon, and welcomed generally the legal foundation for the fund that will carry out the task. The ECB expects that the bridge recapitalization will be finalized shortly, the...
• Fitch Downgrades New York's Suffolk County
  Fitch Ratings cut the credit rating for New York's Suffolk County one notch to A-plus on Wednesday, citing "persistent" operating deficits and the reliance on one-shot revenue measures. Fitch gave Suffolk County, located on the eastern half of Long Island, a negative rating...
• Spain Wrestles with Regions' 36 Billion Euros of Debt
  Top Spanish officials are at odds over how to help the country's highly indebted regions refinance 36 billion euros of debt this year, government sources told Reuters on Wednesday. This figure, which was revealed in the budget plans from 17 autonomous communities, compares...
• Morgan Stanley to Adjust Prices on Facebook Trades
  Morgan Stanley told brokers on Wednesday it is reviewing every Facebook Inc. trade and will make price adjustments for retail customers who paid too much during the social network company's debut last week, according to an internal memo.
• Bundesbank: Eurozone Can Handle Greek Reform Halt
  Germany's central bank says the 17-country eurozone would be able to cope with Greece failing to implement austerity and reform promises.Greece is holding new elections next month after last month's vote failed to produce a government. In the May 6 election, opponents of...
• France's Hollande Challenges German Crisis Handling
  French President Francois Hollande, who took office last week, challenged Germany s handling of the financial crisis, calling for joint borrowing and looser conditions for cash injections into struggling banks.
• Massachusetts Subpoenas Morgan Stanley in Facebook Probe
  Massachusetts Secretary of Commonwealth William Galvin has issued a subpoena to Morgan Stanley over an analyst's discussions with investors on Facebook The Securities Division has put out a subpoena to Morgan Stanley in connection with the analyst's discussion with certain...
• Facebook, Banks Sued Over Pre-IPO Analyst Calls
  Facebook Inc. and lead underwriter Morgan Stanley were sued by shareholders who claimed they hid the social networking company's weakened growth forecasts ahead of its $16 billion initial public offering. The lawsuit came as Facebook and the banks that took it public face...
• European Banks Unprepared for Pandora’s Box of Greek Exit
  Europe’s banks, sitting on $1.19 trillion of debt to Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland, are facing a wave of losses if Greece abandons the euro.
• Facebook Investor Sues Nasdaq Over ‘Mishandled’ Stock Offering
  A Facebook Inc. investor said in a lawsuit that Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. “badly mishandled” Facebook’s initial public offering, delaying trading and failing to cancel orders when requested by customers.
• Hollande Set for EU Summit Showdown with Merkel
  European leaders will explore ways of breathing life into their stricken economies at a summit on Wednesday, but the issue of eurozone bonds and whether they can help alleviate two years of debt turmoil will dominate the meeting. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain, where...
• Morgan Stanley: Facebook IPO Followed the Rules
  Morgan Stanley defended its role in Facebook Inc.'s initial public offering after a Massachusetts regulator subpoenaed the bank over talks between an analyst and investors about the social media company's revenue outlook. Morgan Stanley followed the same procedures for the...
• Egan-Jones Cuts Spain Rating Further on Weak Banks
  Egan-Jones Ratings cut Spain's credit level further on Tuesday, citing the same weak banking sector that led the agency to downgrade Spain less than a month earlier. The firm cut Spain to BB-minus from BB-plus. Spain will inevitably be faced with sizable payments to support...
• Japan World's Top Creditor in 2011, for 21st Straight Year
  Japan was the world's major creditor in 2011, for the 21st consecutive year, reflecting corporations' aggressive foreign acquisitions and Japan's prodigious foreign currency intervention.
• Senators Seek to Remove Bankers From Fed Boards
  
  U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, Barbara Boxer and Mark Begich plan to introduce legislation today that would remove banking industry executives from the 12 regional Fed banks’ boards of directors.
• JPMorgan Employee Sues Over Trading Losses to Retirement Funds
  JPMorgan Chase & Co. has been hit with a lawsuit brought on behalf of employees whose retirement holdings fell in value after the largest U.S. bank revealed a surprise $2 billion trading loss earlier this month.

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