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The U.S. Federal Reserve on Thursday proposed tougher conditions for banks to pay dividends or buy back shares as part of a number of changes to its annual stress tests to measure banks' ability to withstand financial shocks. _0"> Banks need to ask the Fed for approval for shareholder payouts each year, part of a set of new rules to make banking safer after the financial crisis. Banks must submit capital plans that disclose whether they intend to pay dividends or buyback shares, as well as any planned increases in capital through raising new debt or shares. The new rule would prevent banks from increasing dividends or buying back shares if they did not meet the capital increases that they had pledged to the Fed. "Some large bank holding companies included issuances of capital instruments in their capital plans, but did not execute these planned issuances," the Fed said. For instance, if a bank had planned a $50 million stock issuance, and combined dividends

Bartender Yoshiro Tsuneoka smiled with satisfaction between popping open bottles of champagne. It was midweek, 8 pm, and business was good at the tiny bar in downtown Tokyo. Watching a bevy of young professionals quaffing sparkling wine, there was little sign that an increase in Japan's sales tax in April caused anything more than a hiccup in the economy. "Sales have been doing well for a while now and we've noticed no change after the tax increase," Tsuneoka said above the sound of clinking glasses. "We get a broad range of customers, and their spending hasn't changed." Japan needs people spending with confidence if a radical strategy adopted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to succeed in breaking the economy free of two decades of deflation and sub-par growth. Government data covering the period after the tax was increased to 8 percent from 5 percent at the start of April has begun to trickle in. Household spending and retail sales in April dropp

Six years after mind-blowingly complex securitized debt brought the global financial system to its knees, the bankers behind the market are wary of official efforts to rehabilitate it in Europe. In the years leading up to 2008, when loans were transformed into bonds, many were repackaged again and again, acquiring triple A ratings despite links to U.S. sub-prime mortgages, and earning the nickname "toxic sludge". Yet the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England (BoE) say they want to revive more straightforward asset backed securities (ABS) in the hope of ramping-up lending to credit-starved businesses and rebooting the regional economy. Attendees at the industry's annual meeting in Barcelona say it will take more than positive words to overcome their pariah status in Europe and worry that official efforts to exclude the riskier parts of the market will make it unworkable. "Don't confuse words with action," James Hewer, a partner at PwC's st

Rising bond yields, mounting inflation and a weakening currency have taken the shine off Ghana, a country until recently hailed as a model for African growth. An oil boom helped fuel five years of GDP growth above 8 percent making Ghana an emerging market star, a stable democracy whose population of 25 million was moving steadily into middle income status. It is now, however, paying a steep price for not coming through with a new tranche of fiscal reforms. Political consensus is stymied, the public is dismayed by rising costs and the dream of new wealth is on hold. Analysts put the immediate difficulty down to a delay in announcing reforms, saying it makes it harder for the government to meet its 2014 economic targets and has increased the chance it will eventually need a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It has also created a perception of policy drift at a time of economic trouble rather than decisive action to shore up gains made during the boom years in whic

Four months ago, Jean-Claude Juncker would have struggled to have his name recognized in much of Europe. Now he could be forgiven for wishing people would shut up about him. As the top candidate of Europe's largest center-right political group, which won the European elections last month, the former prime minister of Luxembourg is in pole position to become the next president of the European Commission. While Britain's David Cameron is adamantly opposed and The Sun tabloid has described him as "The Most Dangerous Man in Europe", Juncker remains on track to secure the powerful post, which has influence over policy from telecommunications to banking and trade affecting 500 million Europeans. Cameron's opposition is based on a belief that Juncker, 59, is an "old-school federalist" wedded to the concept of "ever closer union", not a modernizer who will shake up and refocus Brussels institutions regarded in London as bloated and opaque. After

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has not altered her view that Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker should become president of the European Commission, a government spokesman said on Friday. _0"> "The German chancellor has very clearly said, including in her recent speech to parliament, that she is in favor of Jean-Claude Juncker becoming the next European Commission president and that she will work towards him getting a majority," Steffen Seibert said, adding that "nothing has changed" in this regard.   true       (Reporting by Stephen Brown and Michelle Martin)

class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Banks will return 3.712 billion euros ($5.05 billion) in long-term crisis loans to the European Central Bank next week, ECB data showed, after the ECB started to charge banks for holding their excess cash overnight and promised more long-term loans. _0"> The amount that class="mandelbrot_refrag"> banks will repay on June 18 is below this week's repayments of 10.588 billion euros, and misses the 7.5 billion forecast in a Reuters poll. The ECB cut interest rates to record lows - the deposit rate is now below zero - and launched a series of measures to pump money into the sluggish class="mandelbrot_refrag"> euro zone class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy , pledging to do more if needed to fight off the risk of Japan-like deflation.   true       The measures also include a new 400 billion euro four-year loan scheme to give banks an incentive to increase lending to businesses in the class=&q