• BCE buyers finalize funding
  TORONTO (Reuters) - Announcing what it said were "essential milestones" allowing the world's largest leveraged buyout to go ahead, BCE Inc said on Friday that its buyers had finalized funding and were sticking to their C$34.8-billion ($34.1 billion) purchase price.

  

  

  
• Merrill nears deal to sell Bloomberg stake: report
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch & Co may sell its 20 percent stake in financial news and data provider Bloomberg LP to a blind trust controlled by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, The New York Post reported on Friday.

  

  

  
• French bank body fines SocGen $6 million over Kerviel
  PARIS (Reuters) - France's Banking Commission on Friday fined Societe Generale 4 million euros ($6.3 million) for serious breaches in internal controls revealed by the French bank's 4.9 billion euro rogue trading loss.

  

  

  
• World stocks fall on financial shares, oil drops
  SAO PAULO (Reuters) - World stocks edged lower on Friday, getting no relief from a decline in crude prices as concerns of further banking write-downs weighed on financial shares.

  

  

  
• Tax credit to save UBS from hefty loss
  ZURICH (Reuters) - Battered Swiss bank UBS said on Friday it should be saved from another hefty loss in the second quarter by a large tax credit, giving a much-needed though short-lived boost to its share price.

  

  

  

Coverage includes breaking news, market reports, newsmaker interviews and key company profiles.

• Japan back from Bubble
  Oct. 18 - Japanese real estate prices are rising again, 16 years after its "Bubble" era ended in tears.
• Intel cheers Asian shares
  Oct. 18 - Asian shares rose Thursday on expectations of lower U.S. interest rates and strong results by tech giant Intel.
• New facets for diamond business
  Oct. 16 - The world diamond industry says it wants to rethink its business strategy and give more power to producing countries in Africa.
• Posting for profit
  Oct. 10 - A new service from Blinkx.com allows consumers to take a cut of ad revenue from video on their own websites.
• A380 finally lands in Singapore
  Oct. 17 - Two years later than originally scheduled, the Airbus A380 superjumbo lands in Singapore ready for commercial service.