The European Central Bank spent 1.704 billion euros last week on covered bonds under a new purchase program with which it hopes to foster lending to businesses and thereby support the euro zone economy.
Legal & Regulatory
Ukraine, Russia, EU agree to natural gas supply deal
Ukraine, Russia and the European Union signed a deal on Thursday on the resumption of Russian natural gas supplies to Ukraine for winter after several months of delay during the conflict in Ukraine.
Fifty-one countries sign OECD pact to tackle tax cheats
Finance ministers and tax chiefs from 51 countries signed an agreement on Wednesday to automatically swap tax information, which Germany's finance minister said heralded the end of tax evasion via secret bank accounts.
Fed ends bond buying, shows confidence in U.S. recovery
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday ended its monthly bond purchase program and dropped a characterization of U.S. labor market slack as "significant" in a show of confidence in the economy's prospects.
EU provisionally clears French, Italian budgets after tweaks
The European Commission provisionally accepted the budgets of France and Italy, saying on Tuesday that no euro zone states had submitted deficit plans for next year that seriously breached EU rules for fiscal stability.
Latest News
A Democratic U.S. Senator from Oregon supports legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and will vote “yes” to a state initiative next week that would let adults consume pot for fun, his office said on Monday.
Mexico and the United States reached a deal on Monday to avert potentially steep duties on Mexican sugar imports to the United States in talks that went down to the last minute.
U.S. safety regulators have opened an investigation of Chrysler Group's handling of two recalls for potential steering issues affecting nearly 1 million Dodge Ram pickup trucks in the United States.
China has banned private clubs in historical buildings, parks and other public facilities because they are hindering the fight against corruption, state media said on Monday, as the government broadens its anti-graft and frugality campaigns.
Japan's new trade and industry minister received contributions from a firm in which foreign investors held a majority stake, but was not aware of the possible violation of the political funds law at the time and has returned the money, an aide said on Monday.
Labor union Verdi has called on workers at online retailer Amazon (AMZN.O) to go on strike at five locations across Germany, as a row over pay and conditions continues.
Somalia said it was reviewing several oil and gas deals that U.N. investigators say lack transparency and risk hindering development of the country's energy industry.
Roughly one in five of the euro zone's top lenders failed landmark health checks at the end of last year but most have since repaired their finances, the European Central Bank said on Sunday.
Unless it springs a major surprise, the U.S. Federal Reserve will call time this week on its program of government bond purchases, which at one point was pumping $85 billion a month into financial markets and the economy.
