Small firms report weak trading conditions
Trading conditions remain weak for most of the 10 small firms that the BBC News Website has followed over the past two years. Here are their updates for 2010 so far.

Economy tracker: House prices
Economy tracker: House prices

Buffett defends rating agencies
Warren Buffett defends credit rating agencies for failing to spot the US mortgage bubble that sparked the financial crisis.

More loan losses hit Ulster Bank
Ulster Bank reports a loss of £368m for 2009, compared with an operating profit of £218 million in 2008.

Lloyds reports return to profit
Lloyds Banking Group says it returned to profit in the first three months of the year after losses on bad debts fell.

Electrical company ceases trading
An electrical wiring company based at Llangefni on Anglesey is to go into voluntary liquidation with the loss of 35 jobs.

Progressive reports £1.5m profit
The Northern Ireland-based building society Progressive reports a pre-tax profit of £1.5m for 2009.

Late payments 'hurt small firms'
More small and medium size businesses are suffering as their customers make late payments, research suggests

Debt collector complaints double
Complaints about rogue debt collectors to trading standards in Surrey double, according to county council figures.

FSA imposes fine for unfair fees
Sub-prime mortgage firm Kensington Mortgages is fined £1.225m for treating borrowers unfairly when they fell into arrears.

Counties see rise from recession
A Chamber of Commerce Survey shows two East Midlands counties are out of recession with a quarter of firms recruiting more staff.

Anglo Irish Bank in record loss
Nationalised lender Anglo Irish Bank announces what is reported to be the largest corporate loss in the history of the Republic of Ireland.

Big fall in Irish banking stocks
Shares in two Irish banks fall sharply, a day before the Republic of Ireland government is expected to say it will increase its holdings.

MPs slam 'shameless' businessman
Three MPs are demanding Staffordshire Police investigate the financial affairs of former Newcastle-under-Lyme councillor Peter Whieldon.

City Diaries: "Laura"
Laura (not her real name) works for a commercial bank in London. She is commenting on the frustrations of working in the financial services in the current climate.

Smaller losses at Northern Rock
Northern Rock says that it made "good progress" in 2009, after reporting a sharp fall in its annual losses.

UK banks see surge in bad debts
The level of bad debts written off because defaulting borrowers will never repay them shot up in 2009 to a new record, figures show.

Thompson warns SPL clubs on wages
Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson urges clubs to reduce wage levels in order to safeguard the future of the game.

Bad debts of £24bn knock Lloyds
Lloyds Banking Group lost £24bn on bad loans in 2009, forcing the bank heavily into the red, annual results show.

RBS reports £3.6bn loss for 2009
Royal Bank of Scotland reports a loss of £3.6bn for 2009, but is set to pay bonuses totalling £1.3bn to its staff.

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