The G20 group of rich and poor countries is likely to make rapid progress on a radical IMF plan to tax the world's financial institutions in the hope of reaching a deal by the end of the year, the chancellor, Alistair Darling, said today.

Invesco Perpetual's Neil Woodford is one of a trio of highly regarded managers appointed to run balanced managed unit trusts for St. James's Place.

Anthony Bolton has taken out a £65m gearing facility on his Fidelity China Special Situations trust as the manager wastes no time in accessing the region's equity markets.

The Bank of England's fantasy forecast of a decline in annual CPI inflation to about 1% in early 2011 looks even less credible in the wake of March numbers showing an unexpectedly large rise from 3% to 3.4%.

Greece could be forced to reluctantly accept the agreed EU and IMF bailout package after its borrowing costs surged to fresh highs yesterday.

Fabrice Tourre - the bond trader at the heart of Goldman Sachs' fraud case - was on Tuesday barred from working in the City of London in the first 'victory' for financial regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.

St. James's Place recorded an 84% surge in unit trust and ISA investments over the first quarter of the year.

One of the UK's best known hedge fund groups has taken a £47m bet against Prudential in the lead-up to its proposed $35.5bn acquisition of AIA.

Schroders' Richard Buxton remains bullish on British Airways despite losses caused by the volcanic ash crisis and plans to increase exposure to the airline on further weakness.

Lawyers in the United States were predicting a wave of legal action last night in the wake of the $1bn fraud charge brought against Goldman Sachs by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.