ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND

Samsung Electronics Co, the world's biggest technology firm by revenue and the world's No.2 handset maker, is confident of its handset shipments overtaking that of Nokia this year, its chief executive said on Monday.

With India's economic growth buckling and the rupee at an all-time low, other companies, too, are expected to struggle to meet debt obligations in the coming months.

The European Banking Authority noted banks within the 27-nation European Union need to raise €114.69 billion ($152.8 billion) by June of next year in order to meet the authority's capital requirements. That amount is €8.24 billion, or 7.18 percent, more than the supranational regulator had noted on October 30. The balance sheet apparently worsened at certain banks, most notable in Germany, Belgium and Austria.

As macroeconomic developments helped boost stock prices on the one hand, comments from central bankers, politicians and others, on the other hand, dampened the party in the equities market.

Bank stocks finished up one of the best-performing weeks of the year Friday, as a global coordinated stimulus by the world's top central bankers announced Wednesday injected some badly needed liquidity into the credit markets and signaled a willingness for future intervention if the going gets tougher.

As banks around the world race to satisfy international capital requirements, they are going through a veritable fire sale, getting rid of non-core businesses no matter how much they will fetch. Beyond that, they are engaging in some odd transactions, including a substantial amount of balance sheet engineering.

The euro rose for a fifth straight session against the dollar on Friday, bolstered by speculation that the European Central Bank may lend to weak euro zone countries through the International Monetary Fund.

India's move to open its supermarket sector to foreign investors brought relief to its capital-starved local chains but failed to impress small-shop owners.

Seven banks that helped MF Global Holdings Ltd. sell bonds were sued by pension funds who said the bonds' offering prospectuses concealed problems that led to the futures brokerage's collapse.

The British government has agreed to sell Northern Rock, the failed mortgage lender it nationalized in 2008, to Virgin Money, the banking arm of Richard Branson's Virgin empire.

Japanese banks backed by more than $6 billion in spare cash are in talks to buy assets from European banks, sources familiar with the discussions said, as euro zone leaders try to coax foreign capital to help overcome the bloc's debt crisis.

China's imports surged in October as exports grew at their slowest rate in months, suggesting efforts to tilt the economy toward domestic demand may be offsetting the external weakness that has dragged on economic growth this year.

Asian shares rallied more than 3 percent and the euro steadied Friday on hopes that Greece will abandon a proposed referendum on a European Union bailout, but investors remained cautious over a confidence vote scheduled for later in the Greek parliament.

Asian shares rose more than 2 percent and the euro steadied Friday on hopes that Greece will abandon a proposed referendum on a European Union bailout, but investors remained cautious over a confidence vote planned in the Greek Parliament.

Mario Draghi faces a storm at his first policy meeting as European Central Bank president on Thursday but is unlikely to be pushed into a dramatic ramping up the bank's response to the escalating euro zone crisis.

Fortress Investment Group LLC has hired David Dredge as co-chief investment officer at its convexity strategies group, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Royal Bank of Scotland plc (NYSE: RBS), is the "most vulnerable" bank in Europe and may have to raise billions of dollars to strengthen its capital ratios, warned analysts at Credit Suisse. Dozens of British banks, including RBS, released results of new stress tests form to the European Banking Authority on Thursday.

Europe's banks will have to achieve a significantly stronger capital position under a quick-fire regulatory health check and may need to raise some 100 billion euros ($137 billion), banking and regulatory sources said on Tuesday.

Moody’s believes that the UK government will “more likely now … allow smaller institutions to fail if they become financially troubled.” Shares of RBS and Lloyds were down as much as 3.5 percent in London trading.

Equities were expected to steady on Friday after sharp gains in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500 staying flat, for the Dow Jones gaining 0.08 percent and for the Nasdaq 100 falling 0.07 percent.

September Layoffs Mostly Came From Army, BofA, but the two employers outlooks could not be more different