Banks have been warned that they have just a month left to agree plans by the Bank of England to plug capital black holes. It comes amid mounting frustration among regulators about what is being seen as "foot dragging" by the industry over the issue.

HSBC chairman Douglas Flint publicly apologised to shareholders yesterday for the bank's failings after it was fined �1.3 billion in December following a probe into its Mexican and stateside operations.

Households paid off �241m more mortgage debt than they borrowed in an effort to get on top of their debts. Before May last year, net lending had never been negative since the BBA started collecting the data in 1997.

SSE and RWE npower have been given the go-ahead for a �1 billion offshore wind farm. Galloper, a 50:50 joint venture between the two utilities, has received development consent from the UK government for the 140-turbine site 16 miles off the Suffolk coast.

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, tackled the political debate surrounding Britain's EU membership on Thursday night, telling a City of London audience that Europe needed �a more European UK�.

Business leaders and politicians have raised concerns over the future of Inverness's links with London Gatwick. A three-times-a-day service operated by Flybe is in doubt following the airline's decision to sell all of its take-off and landing slots at Gatwick.

Ms Lagarde, French finance minister at that time, now appears unlikely to be brought to trial in the case, lifting a cloud that had gathered over her position as leader of one of the world's top international institutions.

CALLS are growing for a public inquiry into failures to clean up coal mines across Scotland after a new report revealed a potential �60m shortfall in funds for one region alone.

Britain came within six hours of running out of natural gas in March, according to a senior energy official, highlighting the risk of supply shortages amid declining domestic production and a growing reliance on imports.

Paul Fishe: 'I don't want to get into the American position of saying it is indefinite and then stopping'. Picture: Contributed.