Japanese consumer prices fell a record 1.1 per cent in the year to May, with falling demand increasingly blamed as the countryâ??s second bout of deflation in less than two years deepens.
Carlyle Group, Blackstone Group LP and TPG are leading a group of bidders in talks to buy Bank of America Corp.â??s First Republic Bank, the San Francisco-based bank that caters to wealthy individuals.
Eurozone banks face additional losses of more than $283bn this year and next as continental Europeâ??s severe recession intensifies strains on its financial sector, the European Central Bank has warned.