The accounts of some 400,000 customers at Italy's largest bank have been hacked.

The European Central Bank (ECB), led by Mario Draghi, has taken a tiny step closer to reversing support for financial markets, but interest rates will stay low for at least another two years, experts predicted.

AIB’s failure to comply with anti-money laundering reporting procedures was a stain on the lender, chairman Richard Pym has said. There was “no excuse” and the failing was “a stain” on the bank, he told shareholders.

A former high-flying bank executive who exposed alleged law-breaking in the industry a year before the crash is relying on friends for food, he has told a parliamentary watchdog.

The eurozone’s accelerating economy is translating into faster job creation and stronger inflation pressures as a key gauge of activity yesterday rose to a near six-year high in March, and employment increased the most since July 2007, with hiring picking up in services and manufacturing. 

Shares in Italian banks Banca Monte Paschi di Siena and UniCredit had mixed fortunes as both took steps to raise fresh funds.

Zombie-banks, anti-EU sentiment and a stagnant economy are just some of the issues facing a country that would be too big to bail out, writes Philippe Legrain

Irish bank shares posted gains despite continuing fears about the health of Italian lenders and a cautionary report from Fitch Ratings on the outlook for Irish lenders after Brexit.

Markets took a lost referendum and the resignation of Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi on the chin, but Irish taxpayers and Government advisers here will be peering into the distance to see what European elections next year will hold for the sale of AIB, as shares in Italian banks fell sharply.

The Bank of England is almost certain to cut benchmark borrowing costs when it sets policy next week, but a slim majority of economists in a Reuters poll said it would hold off for now on restarting its asset purchase programme.

During World War Two, Winston Churchill became convinced that Italy would turn out to be the weak point of occupied Europe, and so it proved in 1943.

Italy’s bond markets were rocked by the Brexit vote amid reports Rome is considering injecting capital into some lenders battered by a fresh selloff.

Europe’s shares climbed the most in a month, with banks posting their biggest surge since October 2011, on optimism that China’s economy is stabilising at last.

The corporate and financial elite have ended their annual love fest in Davos, the Swiss ski resort.

Britain’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since early 2008 but earnings grew more slowly than expected, showing why the Bank of England is in no hurry to raise interest rates.

Eurozone industrial production declined in line with expectations in August, as the energy sector reversed gains made in July, while only durable consumer goods output showed robust expansion.

Global regulators have reached a draft agreement on a rule on stopping banks from being ‘too big to fail’ by requiring them to hold enough equity capital and bonds to avoid taxpayers being called on in a crisis.

Sterling traders are making a costly mistake to assume a doveish Federal Reserve will prompt the Bank of England to delay raising interest rates, according to the biggest sterling bull.

Europe will have to wait at least five years before banks begin to consolidate across borders, as they wrestle with low interest rates, regulatory reforms and the need to overhaul technology, bank executives said yesterday.

Mario Draghi has one month to win consensus on quantitative easing by reassuring those worried that the European Central Bank risks losing its own money.

German factory orders rose strongly in October in a development that’s likely to ease concerns over the state of Europe’s largest economy.

The eurozone economy risks a renewed slowdown. A Purchasing Managers Index for factories and services activity unexpectedly fell to 51.4 in November, the lowest in 16 months, from 52.1 in October, London-based Markit Economics said. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

Roughly one in five of the eurozone’s top lenders failed landmark health checks at the end of last year but most have since repaired their finances, the European Central Bank said yesterday.

The ECB has outlined the procedures behind the upcoming banking supervision process to help to improve confidence in eurozone banks, says Danièle Nouy

Eurozone inflation dropped to a fresh five-year low in August, something likely to concern the European Central Bank but not force it into immediate policy action.

German exports and imports dropped much more than expected in May, coming on the heels of other soft indicators that have signalled Europe’s largest economy is losing momentum.

The eurozone’s fastest economic growth in three years probably won’t be enough to stop Mario Draghi from easing monetary policy.

BNP Paribas, France’s largest bank, is cutting 1,600 jobs at its Ukrainian unit, or more than 20% of the workforce, as the country faces mounting unrest and a standoff with Russia.

The Central Bank has fined UniCredit Bank Ireland €315,000 for breaching limits on exposure to Italian and Spanish bonds and contravening limits on exposure to a single client.

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

Germany’s central bank sharply cut its 2013 economic growth forecast to 0.4% today, while poor industrial production figures underlined expectations of a weak winter for Europe’s biggest economy.

Ratings agency Moody’s has today downgraded seven banks in Germany, citing risks from the eurozone debt crisis and prospects of weaker global economic growth.

The move towards greater integration of euro financial affairs is gathering momentum but there is sure to be resistance, writes Noah Barkin and Daniel Flynn

European stocks rebounded from a two-month low yesterday and Spanish bonds rose after an ECB official signalled that the bank may revive its bond-purchase programme.

Fresh worries about the strength of the economies in the UK and eurozone saw world markets suffer another torrid session today.

European stocks advanced yesterday, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index climbing to the highest since July 26, as reports showed German investor confidence in March increased more than forecast and US retail sales rose in February.

Banks have grabbed €530bn at the European Central Bank’s second offering of cheap three-year funds, fuelling expectations that credit will flow to businesses and borrowing costs will ease for governments hit by the eurozone crisis.

ROYAL Bank of Scotland’s decision to cut jobs at its investment bank, RBS Securities, by more than a quarter may kickstart a wider shake-up among its rivals.

THERE IS a simple explanation for why the world’s zombie banks remain so reluctant to write off worthless assets and tap the equity markets for fresh capital. They don’t want to end up like UniCredit.