A round-up of the key stories across the specialist financial media, including news that 25 EU states have signed a pact promising greater budget discipline.
Pact for budget discipline signed by 25 EU states
All but two European Union countries signed a treaty on tighter budget discipline for the euro zone on Friday, marking a coup for Germany which pushed for the accord to try to prevent a repeat of the loose spending that led to debt crisis.
The amount of cash deposited by eurozone banks overnight at the European Central Bank hit a record on Friday, coming just two days after financial institutions took advantage of an offer of unlimited cheap loans.
Barclays tapped the European Central Bank for €8.2 billion in low interest loans, a move that underscores how the ECB's program to flood the market with cheap money is winning over even the most reluctant banks.
U.S. stock-index futures dropped, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will pare this week’s advance, as Spain’s prime minister said that the country’s budget deficit in 2012 will be wider than its target.
SEC accounting of record enforcement year in 2011 doesn’t add up
U.S Securities and Exchange Commission officials have been citing a jump in the number of enforcement actions last year as proof that an overhaul of the agency’s investigative force is bearing fruit. The claim isn’t supported by a detailed examination of the statistics.
