HSBC

Russia's central bank will offer gold-backed loans for up to 90 days at an interest rate of 7 percent, it said in a statement on Friday, expanding its lending facilities for dealing with any future liquidity crunch in the banking system.

This year's heady bout of risk aversion on financial markets has ratcheted up demand for gold, U.S. Treasuries and the Swiss franc to levels that suggest they may no longer be the safe havens they are claimed to be.

China's planned deregulation in October of its fund distribution business has drawn interest from both independent advisers and locally-incorporated foreign banks, as they eye a slice of the market dominated by Chinese banks.

Taiwan's Acer Inc reported a worse-than-expected quarterly loss, the first in company history, hurt by charges for an inventory write-off and reorganization, and said it would be impossible to break even for the full year.

Several major banks cut sharply their oil price forecasts on Tuesday, with Citigroup saying that even if the United States printed more money, oil would stay depressed by weak economic growth and fresh supplies from Libya.

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 showed on Tuesday.

Economic growth is stagnating in Europe and cooling slightly in China, according to surveys of business activity released on Tuesday, fuelling concern about the risk of a global slump as Western governments struggle to cope with their debt problems.

Investors bullish on the oil market are getting support from the uncertainty in Libya.

UBS announced cuts of 3,500 employees on Tuesday, mostly in its investment banking division, as the layoff trend continues in the banking industry.

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

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.