Moody's

Moody's will strip the US of its AAA rating if a deficit reduction deal is not struck in Congress, it has warned.

AstraZeneca has named Pascal Soriot, Roche's chief operating officer of pharmaceuticals, as its new chief executive officer.

European markets rose in early trading as investors awaited a meeting on Greece's future and possible anti-crisis action from policymakers.

Moody's has said new ESMA guidelines on ETF stock lending are "credit negative" for asset managers and will hit profitability - but will also spark an uptick in investor interest.

J.P. Morgan's Nick Gartside and Barings' Alan Wilde have warned the UK's AAA-status is at risk of downgrade following the shock contraction in the second quarter's GDP.

Moody's has downgraded the credit rating of financial services group Close Brothers, pointing to the rapid growth of its loan book and its exposure to the flagging UK economy.

Moody's has cut Italy's credit rating by two notches to Baa2 as the euro area's third biggest economy faces higher funding costs and contagion risk from Greece and Spain.

Ratings agency Moody's has changed the outlook on Barclays' financial strength rating from stable to negative, saying the uncertainty over the bank's future direction is negative for bondholders.

World markets including the FTSE fell in early trading as weak economic data and Moody's downgrade of 15 banks unnerved investors.

Credit rating agency Moody's has downgraded 15 financial institutions overnight, including major UK and US banks.