BANK OF ENGLAND

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner appeared on a CNBC-sponsored conference Wednesday morning toeing the government's party that the New York Fed is not to blame for helping keep the evolving LIBOR rate-fixing scandal under wraps, even though they knew it was going on since at least 2007.

Ex-Barclays boss Bob Diamond, who will still receive his salary and benefits worth in excess of £2 million, had given up the bonus payment voluntarily according to Barclays executive chairman Marcus Agius.

While American politicians such as U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., are pushing to expand federal tax breaks for small businesses, the U.K. government has already announced a move to help early-stage businesses find new means of financing: tax relief for private investors.

Asian stock markets declined Friday as investors remained cautious ahead of U.S. employment data due later in the day while major central bank?s actions to stimulate the global economy failed to calm market jitters.

European markets fell Friday as investors were not encouraged by the rate cuts announced by central banks.

Asian markets fell Friday as central bank measures in Europe and China could not allay investor concerns about the intensifying debt crisis looming over the euro zone and the worsening global economic downturn.

To some extent, monetary easing has been accommodated because of stable-to-lower inflationary pressures.

U.S. stock index futures point to a slightly lower opening Thursday ahead of a crucial European Central Bank meeting in Frankfurt where a cut in interest rates is likely to be announced.

European markets fell Thursday as investors remained watchful ahead of a meeting of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt where the bank will take a decision on interest rates.

Oil prices remained near $87 a barrel during Asian trading hours Thursday as investors were awaiting the key monetary decisions from the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England.

Asian markets fell Thursday with the revival of investor concerns about the euro zone?s debt crisis intensifying and the economic downturn deepening.

Former Barclays boss Bob Diamond testified Wednesday before the British Parliament's Treasury Select Committee denying that anyone in the British government instructed the bank to manipulate the rate that determines the cost of trillions of dollars worth of loans and derivatives traded worldwide every day.

Asian stock markets mostly advanced Wednesday on hopes that major central banks around the world would act to tackle the deteriorating global economic conditions.

The British Parliament, might not be the place one would expect to see fireworks lit on July 4. But that's what's likely to happen Wednesday, when the former CEO of Barclays plc (NYSE:BCS), who resigned Tuesday, is expected to tell the House of Commons its fraud was partly done at the bequest of the Bank of England.

Following the revelation last week that British banking giant Barclays was engaging in massive fraud meant to distort the Libor, the interest rate underpinning hundreds of trillions of dollars in credit transactions, politicians and regulators the world over are taking a sober look at the system. What they find may prove to be shocking.

The Bank of England (BoE) is cracking down on large financial institutions to prevent them from cheating businesses and consumers worldwide -- a practice that has put a $360 trillion global financial market at serious risk for several years.

The evolving scandal, according to King, illustrated the need to separate the retail from invest banking.

Advanced readings for German flash PMI came in at 44.7 versus a consensus of 45.2 while the euro zone services came in slightly better than expected at 46.8 versus 46.4

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday extended its monetary stimulus to a U.S. economic recovery that looks at risk of stalling, renewing its effort to depress borrowing costs by selling short-term bonds to buy longer-dated ones.

Markets are fretting over the outcome of Sunday's Greek vote -- with the anti-bailout Syriza party polling neck and neck with rival New Democracy -- and policymakers seem spellbound by the prospect of a breakup of the euro zone.

Britain's goods trade deficit unexpectedly widened in April as exports plunged, raising the threat of a third quarter of economic contraction and adding urgency to new measures to foster growth as trading partners in the euro zone weaken.