Banks, Europe Debt | featured news

The Wall Street firm run by former Goldman Sachs Chairman and New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine filed for bankruptcy Monday morning, making it the first big American casualty of the European debt crisis.

A top bank lobbyist insisted Saturday that banks and the eurozone are far from reaching a deal to cut Greece's debt, despite claims by eurozone finance ministers that they will ask banks to take steeper losses on their Greek bonds.

The leaders of Germany and France, the eurozone's two biggest economies, say they have reached agreement on strengthening Europe's shaky banking sector.

A decision by European central banks to support the region's financial system helped calm Asian markets, setting off a rally across the region in Friday trading....

After a series of positive announcement from Greek FinMin Venizelos, rumors that Moody's would downgrade French banks and Germany was preparing for a Greece to default send equities tanking, particularly French banks.

Several European countries that banned short-selling have extended the prohibition until the end of September. When concerns about European banks’ exposure to Greek debt sent their stocks plummeting two weeks ago, market regulators in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy and Spain stepped in to prohibit traders from betting on the decline in a share’s price.

Stock markets in Asia opened sharply lower Friday amid signs of a possible U.S. recession and renewed worries over the financial health of Europe's banks.

Nearly one-third of 91 European banks undergoing the latest round of public stress tests could need external support to be brought up to scratch, Moody's said.

Under the plan, French banks would give Athens more time to pay back loans as they come due over the next three years.

Unlike their government, Greek banks were seen as well-managed and prudent before the crisis. Now they are struggling to find funding.