Profits at US pharmaceutical giant Merck fell 21%, after the firm was forced to withdraw its Vioxx painkiller last year.
Sales of the drug were halted amid safety fears on 30 September, causing a dip in fourth-quarter profits to $1.1bn (£0
Traders at US banking giant Citigroup are facing a criminal investigation in Germany over a controversial bond deal.
The deal saw the sale of 11bn euros ($14.4bn; £7
Bank of America has been banned from suing Parmalat, the food group which went bust in 2003 after an accounting scandal.
The bank – along with investors, auditors and the group’s managers – want damages for being victims of fraud at the hands of the Italian firm.
But a judge has barred Bank of America and two auditors from the case
Bank of America has been banned from suing Parmalat, the food group which went bust in 2003 after an accounting scandal.
The bank – along with investors, auditors and the group’s managers – want damages for being victims of fraud at the hands of the Italian firm.
But a judge has barred Bank of America and two auditors from the case
Up to 350,000 HSBC small business customers could face a quadrupling of banking costs following significant charge increases.
Those with a turnover of less than half a million must now pay much more for using the branch to do their banking.
Charges include 27 pence for every cheque paid in, and 50 pence out of every £100 cash deposited at any HSBC bank
Activists in India have held nationwide protests against multinational soft drink companies Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Reports said thousands of protesters had gathered near manufacturing plants of the two firms and demanded that they stop production.
Activists want the firms to leave India because they say their plants deplete ground water – claims the soft drinks giants both strenuously deny
Activists in India have held nationwide protests against multinational soft drink companies Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Reports said thousands of protesters had gathered near manufacturing plants of the two firms and demanded that they stop production.
Activists want the firms to leave India because they say their plants deplete ground water – claims the soft drinks giants both strenuously deny
Spider-Man creator Stan Lee is to get a multi-million dollar windfall after winning a court battle with comic book company Marvel.
A judge has upheld Lee’s demand for 10% of Marvel’s profits from the hugely successful Spider-Man films.
Spider-Man and its sequel made $1
The trial of Bernie Ebbers, former chief executive of bankrupt US phone company WorldCom, has started in New York with the selection of the jury.
Mr Ebbers, 63, is accused of being the mastermind behind an $11bn (£6bn) accounting fraud that eventually saw the firm collapse in July 2002.
His indictment includes charges of securities fraud, conspiracy and filing false reports with regulators
French stock market regulator AMF has filed complaints against media giant Vivendi Universal, its boss and another top executive.
It believes the prospectus for a bond issue was unclear and that executives may have had privileged information.
AMF has begun proceedings against Vivendi, its chief executive Jean-Rene Fourtou and chief operating officer Jean-Bernard Levy