HSBC

The company expects to record a restructuring charge of about 550 million Swiss Francs (U.S. $700 million) in connection with the cuts.

Spot gold soared to an all-time high above $1,910 on Tuesday, scoring a record top for a fourth consecutive session, as persistent worries about global economic growth burnished bullion's safe-haven appeal.

Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's China unit has received regulatory approval to trade gold futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, it said on Tuesday, becoming the second foreign bank allowed access to the country's gold futures market.

China's factory sector is likely to slow slightly for a second consecutive month in August as sluggish overseas demand saps new orders, HSBC's China Flash PMI indicated Tuesday.

Hong Kong shares had edged lower by midday on Monday, giving up earlier gains, as investors sold shares of companies that reported weak or even forecast-meeting half-year results, underscoring weak risk appetite, with more volatility expected.

China shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong fell on Monday as investors hammered companies reporting weak or forecast-meeting results, while a late jump in HSBC helped the Hang Seng index offset some of those losses and end higher.

Here are the top ten things the bank’s chief executive, Brian Moynihan, should have said about the massive job cuts he is proposing.

In early summer, before layoffs began sweeping across Wall Street, billboard-sized photos of employees were plastered on the walls, pillars and elevator banks of Credit Suisse Group AG's offices in the United States and abroad.

Large banks in the U.S. and Europe are undergoing a massive and painful re-organization in order to confront the gloomy new realities of the global economic landscape.

These banking institutions plan to let go tens of thousands of people around the world, the victims of a merciless economic climate and a brutal refiguring of the global banking industry.

Here are some of the largest global banks that are planning significant job cuts.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) said it plans cut an additional 3,500 jobs – on top of the 2,500 already announced year-to-date.

Bank of America is cutting 3,500 jobs this quarter and working on a restructuring that could eliminate thousands of additional positions, the Wall Street Journal reported, adding to a slew of layoff by major banks.

Apple?s sales in China have surpassed those of China?s biggest computer maker, Lenovo, which is also the third largest PC vendor in the world.

The continuing sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone and S&P?s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating have increased the safe haven demand for gold and the prices have reached new highs. But investors remain skeptical whether there could be further rally in the price.

Gold dropped 1.5 percent on Friday, falling further from the previous session's record highs, as a rise in appetite for riskier assets prompted profit-taking from bullion's sharp safe-haven rally this week.

Although they?ve largely avoided enormous layoffs, there?s no reason for Middle Eastern banks to rest on their laurels, says The Islamic Globe.

India's annual industrial output growth probably slipped further in June to 5.5 percent from a nine-month low of 5.6 percent in May, indicating taut monetary policy and soaring inflation were hindering growth momentum, the median forecast in a Reuters poll showed.

New China Life, the third-largest life insurance company in China, has filed its listing application with the Hong Kong stock exchange, setting the stage for a planned IPO of up to $4 billion in Hong Kong and Shanghai, sources with direct knowledge of the plans told Reuters on Thursday.

August's dramatic financial shock, which is now both feeding off and risks fueling another economic downturn, may well introduce a third phase of the four-year-old global credit crisis -- the infection of the ultimate creditors.

HSBC plans to dispose of its 8 percent stake in Bank of Shanghai, a Chinese newspaper reported on Thursday, citing unidentified sources.