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Mortgage lenders warned by UK watchdog - The City watchdog warned lenders to batten down the hatches and brace for 'very difficult' conditions, as a Halifax survey offered fresh evidence that the pace of the slowdown in house prices is quickening

StanChart takes $46m SIV hit - The emerging markets bank said three issues would hit second-half profits, including its exposure to a structured investment vehicle called Whistlejacket, although these were mitigated by strong trading

Opec leaning towards no quota change - Even as it boosts real oil production ahead of winter, the cartel is leaning toward keeping official output levels unchanged and meeting again in early 2008, say delegates

Moss Bros plunges on warning - The suit retailer and formal wear hire company offered further evidence of the pressure on consumers after it said that sales had 'literally fallen off a cliff' in the last seven weeks

Private sector expands UK role - The private sector supply of public services now makes a bigger contribution to the UK economy than pharmaceuticals, the car industry or aerospace, according to an Oxford Economics study

UK welcome for China sovereign funds - The boss of the China Investment Corporation is to be told his $200bn business is welcome in London, after a UK Treasury minister strongly defended such funds

JC Flowers attempts to reopen N Rock bid - JC Flowers, the private equity group, has attempted to get back into the auction process for Northern Rock as it met the embattled bank's board

Ackermann turns down Citigroup job - Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank, has turned down an approach from Citigroup about taking charge of the US bank, underlining the lack of high-profile external candidates for the job

Abramovich agrees Highland Gold deal - Russia's richest man, Roman Abramovich, agreed to take a 40 per cent stake in London-listed miner Highland Gold

Baosteel executive hints at Rio bid - China's largest steelmaker publicly raised the possibility of launching a counter-bid for Rio Tinto, to rival BHP Billiton $133bn takeover proposal

Tehran still a threat, insists White House - President George W. Bush said that US policy on Iran would remain unchanged despite the revelation that Washington no longer thinks that Tehran is developing nuclear weapons

Tesco shrugs off fears of a downturn - The supermarket group, which has just entered the highly competitive US market, bounced back in the third quarter after a lacklustre summer

Met anti-terror chief quits - Andy Hayman, Britain's leading anti-terrorist police officer who was credited with making the country's counter-terror operations more effective, has quit after becoming the subject of a probe into his expenses.

OECD gives UK teenagers only 'average' marks - UK teenagers' strong academic performance has proved illusory, concludes an OECD survey of reading and maths, which doubts the veracity of a previous survey in 2000

Opec oil flow to rise - The cartel is increasing its oil production ahead of the winter peak season even as it continues debating whether to back an official boost to its output limit

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