Ben Bernanke struck a dovish tone in testimony to US Congress on Wednesday, asserting the merits of easy monetary policy and gave no hint that the US Federal Reserve will slow down its $85bn-a-month, third round of quantitative easing.

George Osborne yesterday revealed that the Government will set out its strategy “to return RBS and Lloyds to the private sector” after the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards' final report is published next month.

Wed May 22, 2013 11:03am EDT. * Market operators had expected a 0.1 percent rise. * Sales rose by 0.7 percent in volume terms. By David Ljunggren.

Nationwide has revealed plans to raise up to £500m of extra capital, prompting speculation that it may go shopping for acquisitions.

Furious consumer groups demanded an immediate cut in energy bills today after one of Britain's biggest suppliers revealed a 28 per cent profit surge boosted by the past year's cold weather.