Postal companies should be free to compete for customers from 2011 as governments ended a year-long deadlock over opening the €88bn market

  Brazil and South Africa have signalled a willingness to scale back demands for the next stage of International Monetary Fund reform, raising the possibility of a deal

  US president hails a 'deciding moment' in the battle against climate change as he calls on rich and poor countries to build a new international approach to the problem

  Washington is expected to scrutinise on national security grounds the joint acquisition of 3Com, the US networking group, by Huawei Technologies, a Chinese telecoms equipment maker, and Bain Capital, the US private equity firm

  The French Socialist former finance minister has been appointed managing director having promised efforts to revive the institution's fading relevance

  Robert Zoellick, the bank president, announces a simplified fee structure and lower interest on loans to compete with private capital markets

  European shipowners, port operators and retailers rounded on a US plan to scan all containers entering the country, saying it would have "disastrous effects" on trade

  The ECB's emergency fund, which attracts a penal interest rate, has been tapped for €3.9bn – the largest sum since October 2004, the Frankfurt-institution revealed

  The OECD has urged the Bank of England to be ready to cut interest rates because of the risk of lower economic growth and a housing slowdown in the wake of financial market turmoil

  The lack of a strong central authority to administer the scheme and short time frames are big flaws, writes Simon Tilford

  The credit squeeze and economic uncertainty currently gripping the US and Europe are unlikely to spread to emerging markets, Peter Sands, Standard Chartered chief, told the FT during the CGI meeting

  Companies around the world are not adequately prepared to protect their workers or ensure the continuity of their business in the event of a pandemic, according to a new report

  Draft law allowing examination of acquisitions by sovereign wealth funds in sensitive sectors is shaping up to become a leaner version of a similar US safeguard mechanism

  The world's financial policymakers must draw hard lessons from the turmoil but their response has not weakened their inflation-fighting credentials, says Angel Gurría