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This is Money
The increasingly desperate race to pass the US Treasury's $700bn mortgage bail-out bill has intensified after bickering US politicians were warned that continued delays could plunge the US economy into a crisis rivalling the Great Depression of 1929.
Desperate race to agree $700bn bail-out
Legendary investor Warren Buffett reckons the US government can make a sizeable profit if it manages its $700bn (380bn) banking bail-out package carefully - and he urged Congress to act quickly to avert an "economic Pearl Harbour".
Buffett says: act or face 'economic Pearl Harbor'
Europe rebuffs calls for fiscal rescue plan as German exports collapse and Nordic central banks firefight liquidity squeeze.
EU refuses bail-out package despite crisis fears
Goldman Sachs is planning to use the bulk of the $10bn (5.4bn) raised in its surprise Warren Buffett-anchored fundraising to invest in distressed mortgage assets.
Goldman Sachs to spend Warren Buffett billions on distressed assets
Thousands of panicked depositors queued outside Bank of East Asias branches across Hong Kong on Wednesday to withdraw their life-savings on rumours that the lender was in financial trouble.
Rumours trigger bank run in Hong Kong
Americas SEC ordered more than two dozen hedge funds to turn over trading information as it ramps up its investigation into whether traders were spreading rumours to manipulate shares, reports the WSJ. The SEC order, dated Sept 22, identifies six financial institutions the SEC believes may have been subject to such manipulation.
SEC orders hedge funds to turn over data
The UK financial watchdog has slapped down efforts by more than a dozen big companies to have short selling of their shares banned, changing its rules so they only apply to firms whose main business is financial services.
UK rejects wider shorting ban
The City's regulator has threatened to impose unlimited fines on investors that breach its new rules on betting against UK bank shares amid a flurry of late disclosures by hedge funds.
Financial Services Authority threatens heavy fines for short-sellers
Ryan Kneale, the chief market analyst at BetsForTraders.com, said: "We are grateful to the FSA for the decision, as it has boosted our business a lot. Thanks to the ban, fixed-odds financial betting overnight became the only way of shorting a bank, and it was inevitable that traders would find this loophole as they scrambled to get around these protectionist rules." Spread-betting firms have said they will stop offering bets against banks' share prices, but Mr Kneale said he had no intention of doing so. Individual accounts can go into six figures, he said. Hedge funds cannot place bets, but Mr Kneale said many of his company's clients work at hedge funds.
Ban on shorting financial stocks sends betting soaring