IBT Staff Reporter

Britain must sell its Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds stakes as soon as possible because keeping them is allowing politicians to gamble with people's money on bank shares, according to a lobby group representing taxpayers.

The billionaire brothers and co-chairmen of Hong Kong property company Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd <0016.HK>, who were arrested last week on suspicion of corruption, will make their first public appearance on Tuesday, an official at the company's media department told Reuters on Tuesday.

China may loosen overseas investment rules for private investors, the country's central bank chief said on Tuesday, less than a week after the government gave the go-ahead for pilot financial reforms in a coastal city.

LONDON, APRIL 3 - Whitbread PLC said on Tuesday that Chris Rogers, currently group finance director, would take over as chief executive of its rapidly expanding coffee shop chain Costa Coffee in August, with a remit to drive international growth.

Australia's central bank opened the door wide for a rate cut in May even as it held rates steady at 4.25 percent at a review on Tuesday, saying it wanted to see coming inflation data before deciding whether to ease policy.

Ford Motor Co is rolling out new Lincoln models with a panoramic glass roof option to lure younger, more affluent buyers, as the No. 2 U.S. automaker tries to revive a luxury brand whose sales peaked two decades ago.

The pace of growth in manufacturing picked up last month, even as measures of new orders and exports eased, underscoring how the economy is recovering at a gradual clip.

Apple Inc's new iPad topped Consumer Reports' list of tablets despite the influential watchdog's having earlier stoked doubts about the latest iteration of the best-selling tablet by saying it threw off more heat when used heavily.

Ford Motor Co is rolling out new Lincoln models with a panoramic glass roof option to lure younger, more affluent buyers, as the No. 2 U.S. automaker tries to revive a luxury brand whose sales peaked two decades ago.

General Motors Co passed an environmental milestone of sorts in March, when it became the first U.S. automaker to sell, in a single month, more than 100,000 cars that can achieve 30 miles per gallon in highway driving, the automaker said on Monday.

Coty Inc disclosed on Monday that it had offered $10 billion for Avon Products Inc but the larger company, which is grappling with sliding sales and a bribery probe, rejected the bid as too low and opportunistic.

An MF Global bankruptcy trustee asked a judge on Monday to release $25 million in insurance money to pay defense costs for Jon Corzine and other former MF Global officers facing civil lawsuits over the broker's October collapse.

General Motors Co passed an environmental milestone of sorts in March, when it became the first U.S. automaker to sell, in a single month, more than 100,000 cars that can achieve 30 miles per gallon in highway driving, the automaker said on Monday.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc has named Jim Schiro to replace lead independent board director John Bryan, who plans to retire in May.

UBS AG named several executives to senior positions in the United States and Europe, in the latest move by the Swiss bank to rebuild its business after a massive trading scandal and departures by scores of bankers in recent years.

Hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb has intensified his firm Third Point's proxy battle with Yahoo Inc, launching a website calling for a management shakeup at the online media company.

The take-home pay of U.S. chief executives grew at least 10 percent in 2011, propelled largely by a stock market rally, according to consultants' estimates.

U.S. stocks started the second quarter with a bang on Monday, with the S&P 500 climbing to a fresh four-year high as manufacturing data from the United States and China helped support the outlook for economic growth.

Stocks ended higher on Monday, starting the second quarter with a bang. The S&P 500 climbed to a fresh four-year closing high as manufacturing data from the United States and China helped support the outlook for economic growth.

Oracle Corp and Google Inc have reached an irreconcilable impasse in settlement negotiations in a high-profile intellectual property lawsuit and the companies' lawyers should prepare for trial, a U.S. magistrate judge ruled on Monday.

Stocks extended gains in late afternoon trading on Monday, with the Nasdaq Composite up 1 percent and the S&P 500 at a fresh four-year high as encouraging data from the United States and abroad helped ease concerns about the pace of economic growth.

The S&P 500 climbed to a fresh four-year intraday high on Monday, the first trading day of the second quarter, as upbeat Chinese and U.S. manufacturing data overshadowed a report showing more weakness in Europe.

Microsoft is moving its European software distribution to the Netherlands from Germany after being caught up in patent disputes with mobile phone and tablet maker Motorola Mobility Inc .

Wall Street advanced on Monday, the first trading day of the second quarter, as upbeat Chinese and manufacturing data overshadowed a report showing continued softness in Europe.

Former Acer <2353.TW> Chief Executive Gianfranco Lanci was appointed on Monday as chief of Lenovo's <0992.HK> operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and said he aims to break into the top three in the region by next year.

Stocks were little changed on Monday on the first trading day of the second quarter as data showing a modest pickup in U.S. manufacturing offset a report showing a dimmer view of factory activity in Europe.

Construction spending in February recorded its largest drop in seven months as investment in private and government projects fell, which could cause economists to slightly mark down their first-quarter economic growth forecasts.

Unemployment in the euro zone reached its highest level in almost 15 years in February, with more than 17 million people out of work, and economists said they expected job office queues to grow even longer later this year.

Wells Fargo & Co opened its new Abbot Downing business on Monday, merging two of its wealth management units under a new brand it hopes will expand its market share of America's richest families.