ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND

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.

Duke Energy, Infosys, Seadrill Ltd, Barclays, Microsoft, Royal Bank of Scotland, Silvercorp Metals and Kraft Foods are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Tuesday.

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.

Investors in Barclays PLC (NYSE: BCS) (London: BARC) lost over £4 billion Thursday as the British bank lost one-sixth of its market capitalization a day after international regulators announced the bank would have to pay hundreds of millions as a fine for an audacious price-fixing fraud some of its traders were found to have engaged in.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Nokia Corp, Navistar International, Sohu.com, Facebook, JPMorgan Chase, Alcoa and GlaxoSmithKline are among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Friday.

European markets rose Friday amid expectation that central banks around the world would coordinate to announce stimulus measures to rejuvenate the global economic growth.

Among the companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trading Thursday are: Lincoln National Corp, SINA Corp, Las Vegas Sands, Baidu.com, Bank of America, Royal Bank of Scotland, Morgan Stanley and Nokia Corp.

The part-nationalized bank is expected to make the announcement on Friday during its first-quarter update, where it will also announce pre-tax losses of under £50 million, down from losses of £106 million this time last year.

Mergers and acquisitions are on the upstream as low interest rates, rising business and consumer confidence plus depressed prices for some assets have companies seeking buys that will allow them to expand or cut costs through synergy.

Private equity group Terra Firma Capital Partners said Monday it would buy Four Seasons Health Care, the UK's largest independent elderly healthcare provider, for 825 million pounds ($1.34 billion) to take advantage of the growing demand.

Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to spin off its mergers and acquisitions business to some of its top bankers, sources said, forming a new advisory boutique with anticipated investment from foreign banks without a big footprint in Europe.

European banks could be forced to shrink their balance sheets by as much as $3.8 trillion through 2013, or almost 7 percent of total assets, with a quarter of the deleveraging likely to come from cuts in lending and the remainder from sales of securities and noncore assets, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.

Abu Dhabi investors have discussed a 10 billion pound ($15.97 billion) investment into Royal Bank of Scotland , the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

British taxpayers may take billion-pound hit if plans go ahead to sell off up to a third of stake in RBS to sovereign wealth investors in Abu Dhabi.

The British government has been in talks with Abu Dhabi's cash-rich sovereign wealth funds to sell a large portion of its 82 percent holding of RBS for months, according to a report.

NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE - The Royal Bank of Scotland has halted payments to a Greek ship owner which transported Iranian oil for an Indian shipping company, in line with Western sanctions aimed at hindering Iranian crude exports, shipping sources told Reuters.

Royal Bank of Scotland is closing its equity capital market and corporate finance units in South Korea and cash equities businesses in Indonesia, Singapore and Korea, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Greg Smith resignation letter describing toxic atmosphere at investment bank undermines goodwill.

Britain should not delay too long kick-starting the sale of its shares in Royal Bank of Scotland , the chief executive of RBS said, as speculation grows that the government could sell an initial stake at a loss.

Customers of bankrupt U.S. brokerage MF Global are receiving bids from global banks for their claims, according to a published report.