George Osborne is to shed light on his plans for the state-owned banks amid fresh pressure to split up Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

The Group of Eight leading industrialized nations agreed to proposals to tackle tax avoidance and evasion that call for new laws to stop businesses from shifting profits across borders and urge greater transparency about company ownership.

LONDON - London shares closed higher on Tuesday as investors hoped the two-day Federal Reserve Board meeting will not spark too sharp a reduction in the Fed's stimulus programme to shore up the United States economy, dealers said.

Let's hope Charlotte Hogg enjoys her 15 seconds of fame. Her appointment as the first chief operating officer in the Bank of England's history is certainly newsworthy.

Aggreko. �17.52 -39p. Questor says BUY. Aggreko disappointed some with a pre-close trading update on Tuesday in which it said full-year expectations remained unchanged.

Liberty Global is structuring a bid for Germany's largest cable group that offers assets instead of cash in the hope of overcoming regulatory opposition to its proposed �7.5bn putative bid for Kabel Deutschland.

A call centre made famous by a BBC reality TV series has been fined �225,000 for harassing families with nuisance calls. The BBC has portrayed the company's millionaire boss 'Big Nev' Wilshire as a lovable rogue, a consumer champion and even a hero.

Federal Reserve officials both expect and want inflation to be higher than it is. So far, that isn't happening. Consumer price data released Tuesday showed inflation rose a mere 1.4% in May from a year earlier.

Like-for-like sales at Costa Coffee rose 8pc in the 13 weeks to May 30, while those at its Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurant arm were flat, Whitbread said in a trading update on Tuesday.

Millions of loyal Lloyds TSB customers will soon find themselves locked out of the bank branches they have used for years. Many face having to stump up extra charges or wait days for their money to arrive in their accounts.