Film 100

Labour tries to tame bank bonuses

Financial Services Authority will be given power to void any contracts that it believes promote inappropriate risk-taking

Madoff memorabilia auction raises $1m

About 700 people packed into the ballroom of the New York Sheraton on Saturday to snap up pieces of Wall Street history

Persimmon's orders for new homes swells by 50%

Britain's second largest housebuilder cuts its debt level as activity in the housing market continues to improve

Harry Platt, unsung hero of British SME community

Workspace Group provides a lifeline to dozens of companies trying to find their way in a difficult world

Cadbury workers demand Kraft details

Union writes to US group asking for pledge that no sites will be closed if bid goes ahead

Presents are better in a gift-wrapped Bokks

Luxury presents, which can be anything from a yacht to champagne to a tour of Titanic, are on offer from a new company

US gun sales shoot up amid crime fears

Buyers are concerned that rising unemployment will lead inexorably to higher crime rates

Nick Reilly of General Motors

As a skilled negotiator who has been with the company for 34 years, he will be taking up a position as head of GM Europe

Ouch! Dentist chief is extracted

Founder and owner of James Hull Associates forced to step down after a bust-up with investors over his expenses

SFO drops investigation into founder of Merlin

Sir Christopher Evans, the biotech entrepreneur, will not be prosecuted over allegations concerning Merlin Biosciences

Rexam moves former finance boss up to top job

Leslie Van de Walle is departing as chief executive after three years in the job, to be replaced by Graham Chipchase

From a golden hello to a comfortable goodbye

Leslie Van de Walle is managing the neat trick of compensation while insisting he is going entirely of his own accord

Defending the most profitable square feet in the pub

Revenues generated from gaming machines in public houses can contribute upwards of 25 per cent of their net profit

Food for thought

Virgin hits pause button on sale of channels

Company is considering sale of Living, Bravo and Trouble and its £300m half-share in UKTV that it owns with BBC

The unsmiling assassin ousts new Reed chief

Within months of arriving at publishing giant Reed Elsevier, Ian Smith was told by chairman that he was wrong man for the job

Xstrata boss mines £14m seam of share options

Mick Davis converts thousands of options in space of month, benefiting from near-trebling in stock price since January

Business is booming for Switzerland’s gold smelters

The credit crunch has pushed precious metals prices to a historic high, leading families to sell old jewellery to be melted down into bullion

OFT to investigate corporate insolvency fees

The watchdog is to begin an inquiry into the millions charged by accountants for winding up companies in administration

OFT to investigate the high cost of going bust

Watchdog launches inquiry into UK's corporate insolvency market over fears companies are paying too much to go bankrupt

Sainsbury’s customers take
their trolleys elsewhere

More than £11 million of spending went to the supermarket group's main competitors in the 12 weeks to November

A British baker that caters to the average bloke

As banks teeter, media companies flounder, entire nations inch towards bankruptcy, Greggs is thriving

Google backtracks on putting world’s books online

The search giant has cut in half its plans to become the world's biggest online library in a legal move to appease critics

Intel pays $1.25bn to end feud with AMD

The world’s biggest chipmaker made the settlement with its rival to squash an antitrust case due to go to trial next year

Liberty Global enters Europe with Unitymedia

US-based cable television operator controlled by John Malone is buying Germany's second-largest cable operator for $3bn

BT seeks to trim £1.5 billion in costs

Telecoms group reduced cost base by £900 million in the first six months, with half of the savings coming from job cuts

BA cabin crew begin vote on Christmas strike

Staff at the airline are being urged to vote for industrial action as new working conditions come into force

Shipping groups push up rates by 25%

International freight charges to rocket in lead-up to Christmas as companies try to claw back income lost in downturn

Bribery allegations investigated at Welsh Water

Regulator visits one of Britain's biggest water groups amid internal inquiry into allegations of irregular practices

British Gas comes in from the cold

Price cuts have brought customers flocking home, says parent group, with 200,000 energy accounts added this year