Spanish banks set aside billions for toxic assets (AP) EU Economy News - Yahoo! News - Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:57:43 GMT AP - Spain's three top banks said Tuesday they will set aside an additional euro6.1 billion ($8 billion) to meet a new government demand for all banks to boost their buffers against troubled real estate assets.

UBS Q4 profit hit by fallout from trading scandal (AP) EU Economy News - Yahoo! News - Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:08:43 GMT UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti, right, and CFO Tom Naratil, left, prepare to speak at a news conference announcing the bank's 2011 full year result in Zurich, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. Switzerland's biggest bank UBS AG reported Tuesday a 76 percent drop in net profits during the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010, a sign of continued struggles linked to its $2 billion rogue trading scandal and economic weakness in Europe and abroad. (AP Photo/Keystone, Steffen Schmidt)

Swiss central banker warns on slowing economy (AP) EU Economy News - Yahoo! News - Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:40:42 GMT AP - Switzerland's economy is expected to "slow considerably" this year and might require more central bank intervention to steady it despite the Swiss franc falling back against the euro, the Swiss National Bank's vice chairman said Tuesday.

UBS warns of poor Q1 as investment bank struggles (Reuters) EU Economy News - Yahoo! News - Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:15:41 GMT Reuters - Swiss bank UBS predicted further weakness in investment banking after a restructuring of the business failed to prevent an earnings hit from the euro zone debt crisis and worries about the global economy.

ArcelorMittal posts $1 billion loss in Q4 (AP) EU Economy News - Yahoo! News - Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:50:46 GMT AP - Steel maker ArcelorMittal was cautiously optimistic about its near-term prospects even after it reported a heavy fourth quarter loss generated by a deteriorating European economy and big tax and restructuring charges.

EU watchdog to assess bank recapitalization plans (Reuters) EU Economy News - Yahoo! News - Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:41:13 GMT Reuters - European banking regulators pore over plans this week from 31 lenders to plug a 115 billion euro ($150 billion) hole in their capital cushions and help restore investor confidence shattered by the euro zone debt crisis.

France, Germany want closer control of Greek funds (AP) EU Economy News - Yahoo! News - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:41:58 GMT 1000 AP - France and Germany on Monday sought to impose tighter controls on Greece's finances and warned political leaders in Athens to agree on new austerity measures soon if they didn't want to see their country go bankrupt.

Conservatives take second powerful post in Finland (AP) EU Economy News - Yahoo! News - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:22:47 GMT Sauli Niinisto smiles at the Helsinki Music Center after the second round of the Finnish Presidential elections on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012. A conservative former finance minister was headed toward a clear victory in Finland's presidential election Sunday, according to partial results and a TV election forecast. A projection by national broadcaster YLE said Sauli Niinisto would win 63 percent of the votes, compared to 37 percent for his rival, Greens candidate Pekka Haavisto. (AP Photo/Lehtikuva/Martti Kainulainen) FINLAND OUT. NO SALES.

Europe's debt rose to 82 percent of output at end-Q3 (Reuters) EU Economy News - Yahoo! News - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:45:51 GMT Reuters - The European Union's total government debt rose slightly to 82.2 percent of economic output in the third quarter of 2011, the EU's statistics agency said on Monday, lower than the United States but still a burden that could take decades to pay down.

Analysis: Euro zone strugglers lack innovative knack (Reuters) EU Economy News - Yahoo! News - Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:21:17 GMT Reuters - To get an idea of the economic mountain euro zone strugglers Greece and Portugal have to climb, consider this: per million inhabitants, they each filed fewer than eight applications with the European Patent Office in 2010.