Chinese regulators have approved Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) move to buy an almost twenty per cent stake in Suzhou Trust, sources with direct knowledge of the situation say.

Kingfisher, Europe's top home improvement retailer, plans to double its Polish business over five years, saying the return of over a million migrants will help limit the impact of a global recession there.

John Lewis Partnership, the employee-owned store chain seen as a barometer of the retail sector, said on Friday last week's sales at its 27 department stores fell 9.8 percent year on year.

BT said on Friday its second-quarter earnings would be slightly below expectations due to a poor performance of its Global Services unit and the boss of that division has now resigned.

Consumer goods giant Unilever posted a 8.3 percent rise in third-quarter underlying sales on Thursday, at the top end of forecasts, and upgraded its 2008 outlook to see sales growth "well in excess" of its target of 3 to 5 percent.

British American Tobacco, the world's second-biggest cigarette maker, reported a 17 percent rise in nine-month earnings on Thursday and said the impact of any consumer downturn would be mitigated by its strong brand portfolio.

Scottish bus and rail company Stagecoach said on Wednesday its trading since August 28 had been in line with expectations, while it expects to be resilient through an economic downturn.

Japan's Toshiba posted a 99 percent plunge in quarterly operating profit on Wednesday, dragged down by weakness in its mainstay chip operations, but it stuck to its recently revised outlook above expectations.

Specialist life insurer Just Retirement reported a 3.8 percent drop in its third quarter sales, and said its capital reserves were strong enough to withstand a sharp increase in financial market turbulence.

Shares of HSBC fell more than 5 percent to a five-year low on Friday after Morgan Stanley cut its target price amid a negative outlook for emerging markets growth.

Life insurer Prudential is considering bidding for more than just the Asian operations of American International Group, its chief executive told the Financial Times on Friday.

Barnsley Building Society is to merge with larger rival Yorkshire Building Society after revealing a possible 10 million pound writedown from its exposure to two Icelandic banks, the companies said in a joint statement on Wednesday.

Life insurer Prudential said its sales rose 15 percent over the first nine months of the year, and confirmed it was interested in buying parts of American International Group's Asian business.

The chief executive of leading bank Lloyds TSB has told its staff that they will still get their bonuses this year, reported the Guardian on Tuesday.

Lloyds of London insurer Amlin said claims for damage caused by Hurricanes Ike and Gustav will reduce its 2008 profit after tax by about $45 million (25.7 million pounds).

ING became the latest European bank to seek government funding on Sunday, agreeing to a 10 billion euro (7.7 billion pound) cash injection as well as scrapping executive bonuses and its year-end dividend.

Legal & General posted a 5 percent rise in nine-month sales on Thursday, at the top end of forecasts, as higher bulk annuity sales offset drops elsewhere.

Some banks are urging the government to lift a ban on dividend payments imposed as part of its 37 billion pound bail-out of the crisis-hit sector, The Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Morgan Stanley stock nearly doubled after Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) completed its $9 billion (5.17 billion pound) investment in the bank on Monday.