Investors are prepared to pay the most on record to hold Russian shares abroad amid speculation that President Vladimir Putin’s government will be forced to implement currency controls to arrest the ruble’s decline.

Italy’s cost of borrowing surged yesterday as investors dumped the country’s bonds in the wake of the general election.

THE European Central Bank said it will lend dollars to eurozone banks in a series of three-month loans as the region’s debt crisis limits market access to the US currency.

France’s competition watchdog has fined a group of leading banks including BNP Paribas and Societe Generale €385m for illegally fixing the price for cheque-clearing services between 2002 and 2007.

France’s highest court removed the final regulatory hurdle to Credit Agricole SA’s planned merger with Credit Lyonnais SA, a deal to create the country’s largest retail bank.