WireTap 1400 27/01/12

Tension over size of eurozone firewall

Fresh signs of tension between France and Germany over the eurozone rescue emerged on Friday, as expectations rise that a deal to restructure Greece’s sovereign debt could be agreed as early as this weekend.

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UK unveils bank regulation overhaul

Britain has announced the most sweeping overhaul in over a decade of the way it regulates its financial services sector, giving greater protection to customers including those using payday lenders.

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Spain unemployment rate hits 22%

Spanish job losses accelerated in the fourth quarter of last year, pushing the country’s unemployment rate over 22%, and lending new urgency to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s plans to overhaul one of Europe’s most dysfunctional labor markets.

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Sydney, Hong Kong stocks rise

Most Asian markets climbed on Friday to improve their weekly gains, with the resource sector leading in Australia as dovish indications for U.S. interest rates pulled in buyers as trading resumed after a holiday.

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Billionaire Denis O’Brien Says Would Invest in Bank of Ireland

Denis O’Brien, the Irish telecommunications and media billionaire, said he would invest in Bank of Ireland Plc, as it has “cleaned up its balance sheet.”

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Bankers at Davos humbler as austerity hits 

Leaders of the world’s biggest banks touted the virtues of austerity at the World Economic Forum in Davos — for themselves, not just for over-indebted governments.

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