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Your support makes all the difference.ING chairman stands down
Willem Scherpenhuijsen Rom, chairman of Internationale Nederlanden Groep, the Dutch banking and insurance group, has resigned as chairman of the executive board.
Internationale Nederlanden has been considering a friendly takeover bid for Banque Bruxelles Lambert, Belgium's second largest bank.
It had been alleged in a Dutch newspaper that while chairman of the former NMB Bank (now ING Bank), Mr Scherpenhuijsen Rom and four other directors who had resigned earlier this year made private investments in a property fund that was financed by the bank.
Mr Scherpenhuijsen Rom said that he had resigned after 'negative publicity'.
Airline bid
Air New Zealand and Brierley Investments are considering a bid for the 49 per cent stake in Qantas, the state-owned Australian airline, which is to be sold by the government. Air New Zealand, which is 42.5 per cent owned by Brierley, said it was conducting due diligence on Qantas with a view to a bid.
Stable prices
Producer prices in western Germany in August were unchanged from July, at 1.1 per cent above last year's level.
US placing
BICC has raised dollars 100m through the private placement of seven-year unsecured notes with a group of seven US insurance companies, led by the Travelers Insurance Companies, that will be used to repay short-term debt.
Oil sale
Christian Salvesen has sold its oil services subsidiary Salvesen (Oilfield Technology) and associated assets to BJ Services Company of Houston, Texas for pounds 28.5m.
Finnish deal
Lowndes Lambert, the insurance broker, has acquired Finnish Insurance Brokers, one of Finland's largest insurance brokers, and a majority stake in Estonian Insurance Brokers.
Sacking protest
Bifu, the banking union, is to release 1,000 balloons at the end of a protest in Manchester on Saturday, to represent 1,000 staff sacked by National Westminster Bank.
BCCI refunds
Foreign currency deposit holders at the Colombo branch of the crashed Bank of Credit and Commerce International are to get full refunds, Sri Lanka's central bank announced.
Drug approved
BOC's anaesthetic Suprane has been granted approval for marketing by the US Food and Drug Administration.
World Markets
New York: Shares drifted lower in quiet trading. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial average was down 6.22 points at 3,320.83.
Tokyo: Profit-taking erased early gains, leaving the Nikkei average 100.56 off at 18,066.24.
Hong Kong: Favourable reaction to the French referendum pushed the Hang Seng index up 52.21 points to 5,741.43.
Sydney: Light trade produced an eight-point gain by the All Ordinaries index to 1,531.6.
Johannesburg: Uncertainty on the foreign exchange markets lifted gold shares. The overall index added 10 points to 3,177.
Paris: Disappointment at the narrow referendum majority sent shares sharply lower. The CAC-40 lost 56.88 - more than 3 per cent - to 1,826.06.
Frankfurt: Fading hopes of an imminent cut in interest rates pulled the DAX index down 15.47 points to 1,573.86.
Milan: Despite the uncertainty over the lira the MIB managed to show a 10-point gain to 749.
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