UNITED KINGDOM

Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said on Friday that G7 financial heads would discuss exchange rates when they meet in Singapore on September 16, but he declined to say if the yen would be at the center of those talks.

Laundry and clothing services firm Davis Service Group Plc said on Friday it expected first half trading conditions to continue into the second half

The Office of Fair Trading will look at bank charges for customers who overdraw their accounts after winding up a months long probe into penalties for the late payment of credit card bills.

Pubs operator JD Wetherspoon reported a 24 percent boost in profit on Friday for a year during which it has experimented with restricting smoking ahead of a national ban.

Investments in offgrid energy generation projects are the quickest way to get electricity to the 1.6 billion people in the world without lights, a World Bank official said on Wednesday.

The pound has fallen on uncertainty about Tony Blair's remaining tenure as British prime minister but any longer-term impact on UK assets should be short-lived if finance minister Gordon Brown replaces him.

Carphone Warehouse has been fined 245,000 pounds over failings in its sales of mobile insurance over the telephone.

Britain's FTSE 100 fell on Thursday with Partygaming leading the losers after Sportingbet's chairman was detained by U.S. authorities

Overseas property investors should be wary of Bulgaria as market growth collapses and rental competition hots up

A third of financial advisers are breaking City watchdog rules designed to protect consumers, a survey by consumer organisation Which? showed on Thursday.

The FTSE 100 fell on Thursday, led by a sharp decline in the construction sector and amid lingering fears that the Bank of England may put up interest rates at noon.

The investing world today may be a global marketplace, but not every country is playing by the same set of rules when it comes to shareholder activism.

Shares fell on Wednesday, led by Drax Group, amid new fears that the Bank of England may, contrary to expectations, raise interest rates on Thursday after its two day meeting.

The country's biggest pubs operator Punch Taverns said on Wednesday it had finished its financial year trading in line with expectations

Gallaher Group PLC, Britain's second largest tobacco company, said first half profit rose 17 percent as the company benefited from rising sales in eastern Europe.

Confectionery to DVDs retailer Woolworths Group Plc could be broken up under a takeover plan devised by Icelandic investor Baugur

Tobacco company Gallaher Group Plc posted a 4 percent rise in half year profits on Wednesday and forecast an improving second half

Shares edged down on Wednesday, with electrical goods retailer DSG International among the biggest losers after a muted trading update

DSG International Plc increased like for like sales 5 percent in the first 16 weeks of its financial year on strong demand for flat panel TVs

U.S. software firms SunGard Data Systems and Fiserv Inc top the list of suitors expected to submit bids for UK software company Misys by a deadline set for later this week, sources close to the matter said on Monday.

Self-regulation in food and beverage marketing is being exploited and is failing to curb childhood obesity, research by a global obesity taskforce presented on Tuesday has found.