Apple has called for US corporate tax rates to be slashed after it admitted sheltering at least $30bn (�20bn) of international profits in Irish subsidiaries that pay no tax at all.

The incoming governor of the Bank of England has warned Europe it must make "sustained and significant reforms" if it is to avoid a Japanese-style lost decade caused by austerity measures.

By Leila Lemghalef. MONTREAL | Tue May 21, 2013 8:58pm BST. MONTREAL (Reuters) - The next head of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, agreed on Tuesday with current Governor Mervyn King that the Bank could not be run as a one-man show.

LONDON�Burberry Group PLC showed further signs of recovery following a midyear profit warning, as it reported a rise in full-year revenue on Tuesday.

Major shareholders had urged Vodafone to distribute most of the special dividend from its 45pc stake in the growing American operator.

Marks and Spencerannounced a 14.2 per cent fall in pre-tax profit for the first three months of the year, the lowest since 2005. The figures were released as M&S's chief executive promised improved shareholder returns and the retailer unveiled further ...

Scotland can "more than afford' to be a successful independent country, its first minister has said. Alex Salmond was speaking as he launched a paper outlining the nation's key economic strengths.

Disposing of the public holdings in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds should be a priority for the Government, the International Monetary Fund will say tomorrow.

The Bank of Ireland (BoI) has reversed controversial increases of mortgage rates for some of the 13,500 affected borrowers following pressure from consumers and lawyers.

Nigel Terrington, chief executive of Paragon, said yesterday the company would start providing personal and car loans again, as part of a planned move back into the consumer banking.