| » Switzerland's central bank surprised markets by setting a ceiling for the Swiss currency of SFr1.20 against the euro in an attempt to keep it down. The Swiss National Bank has made less dramatic interventions recently that have done little to rein in the Swiss franc, which investors have flocked to as a haven from the euro-zone's debt crisis. The move fuelled fears of a full-blown currency war, as countries try to protect their exports. See article
The autumn of our discontent  » Investors remained perturbed about the health of European banks, as Josef Ackermann, the chief executive of Deutsche Bank, gave warning that "numerous" lenders would collapse if they were forced to revalue the sovereign debt they hold at current market values. Mr Ackermann also spoke of a "new normality" in banking that is "characterised by volatility and uncertainty". But he rejected the proposal put forward by Christine Lagarde, the new head of the IMF, to force banks to recapitalise, as "counterproductive". » Share prices in American and European banks also came under pressure after the Federal Housing Finance Agency filed lawsuits for the alleged mis-selling of mortgage-backed securities. The lawsuit is the biggest yet to be brought by a regulator that relates to banking practices before the financial crisis. » Bank of America, one of the targets in the FHFA lawsuit, embarked on a reorganisation of the upper echelons of its management team, dismissing several people from the Ken Lewis era. It is the company's latest attempt to shore up investor confidence, which has been battered by the bank's mortgage-related woes and fears over its capital position. » Carlyle Group, a well-connected private-equity firm based in Washington, DC, took the first step towards launching an initial public offering. Expected next year, Carlyle's IPO will be small (said to be around $100m) compared with the flotations in the past few years of other big private-equity firms; most of those firms have seen the price of their shares tumble from their stockmarket debut.
Not for turning  » The fragility of Britain's economic recovery was underscored by the biggest monthly fall since April 2001 of an index of activity in the service sector, which accounts for three-quarters of GDP. The decline, even steeper than that after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, came amid more calls for the government to slow the pace of its budget-cutting programme. But George Osborne, the chancellor, said the world economy required different responses from each country, much like a football team where "everyone's role needs to be suited to their positions and abilities." » The London Stock Exchange disclosed that it was in talks with LCH .Clearnet, Europe's only independent clearing house. The announcement comes two months after the LSE lost its bid to buy the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Must do better » Carol Bartz was abruptly ousted ("over the phone") as Yahoo!'s chief executive by the internet company's board. Ms Bartz took the job almost three years ago, replacing Jerry Yang, Yahoo!'s co-founder, who famously rejected a takeover bid from Microsoft that valued the company at $45 billion. Yahoo!'s market capitalisation just before Ms Bartz's sacking was around $16 billion. See article » A federal judge in California threw out the $1.3 billion awarded by a jury to Oracle last November, in a case that accused SAP of intellectual-property theft. After a rancorous trial, Oracle was awarded the damages when SAP admitted that a former subsidiary had illegally downloaded its arch-rival's software, but it assessed the harm to Oracle at around $40m. The judge agreed that $1.3 billion was "grossly excessive" and suggested that Oracle should settle for $272m. » In a surprise decision, a Swedish court rejected an application for bankruptcy protection filed by Saab. The carmaker's owner is trying to finalise a financing deal with Chinese backers, but has struggled to pay workers in the interim. » It emerged that Amazon is redesigning its website to emphasise digital products (it now sells more e-books than paper ones) and to accommodate tablet-computer users. Amazon is rolling out its own tablet this autumn, which will probably sell for around $250. » News Corporation decided to put its facilities in Wapping, east London, up for sale. Wapping became synonymous with the battle to move British journalism away from the traditional printing-presses of Fleet Street towards the new era of digital publishing, when Rupert Murdoch decided to move his British newspaper titles to the site in 1986. One of those titles was the now defunct News of the World. | 
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