Banks helped lift London's leading index sharply higher today after Lloyds Banking Group boss Antonio Horta-Osorio received backing for his plans to overhaul the taxpayer-controlled bank.

Banking giant HSBC has called off plans to buy a controlling stake in South Africa’s fourth largest bank, it was revealed today.

Shares in Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) continued to slide today as the lender cemented its position as the stock market’s biggest casualty from the Lehman Brothers collapse.