Spanish bank Santander today looked set to be the only firm bidder in the auction of 318 branches being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland.

The High Court has upheld the Financial Services Ombudsman's finding that insurers of a Dublin businessman had failed to prove that on the balance of probabilities he had committed suicide.

The boss of the bank which took over HBOS has revealed the speed at which it racked up huge losses came as a surprise.

AMERICA FERRERA, star of the US television show Ugly Betty, has had her smile insured for $10 million (about €7.3m), insurance marketer Lloyds said.