AFP - Germany's Hypo Real Estate, a mortgage bank, is on the brink of bankruptcy, the daily Financial Times Deutschland reported in an advance copy of its Monday edition. Read more…

AP - Belgium will guarantee the safety of all retail deposits at Fortis NV, a leading politician said Sunday, as top European financial officials gathered in Brussels to discuss the troubled bank. Read more…

Reuters - Britain could nationalise troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley in the third rescue of a major bank this year, with a decision possible later on Sunday, people familiar with the matter said. Read more…

Reuters - Britain will nationalize troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley , the BBC reported on Saturday, but the government said discussions on the bank's future were still going on. Read more…

AP - Germany will probably have to cut significantly its economic growth forecast for 2009 amid fallout from the global financial crisis, the country's economy minister was quoted as saying Saturday. Read more…

AP - In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy says the death knell has rung for freewheeling, U.S.-style capitalism. German's finance minister calls it downright "dangerous." Even the leader of more Wall Street-friendly Britain says financiers need closer watching, maybe on a global scale. Read more…

AFP - British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, which has been hit by a housing downturn and weakness in the wider economy, may be nationalised, according to newspaper reports. Read more…

AP - House Democrats say the idea of letting judges rewrite mortgages to help bankrupt homeowners avoid foreclosure won't be a part of the $700 billion financial industry bailout. Read more…

AP - A week ago, it totaled just three pages — the White House's request for $700 billion to rescue tottering financial institutions by buying their devalued mortgage-related assets. Read more…

AFP - The Australian government announced Friday it would invest four billion dollars (3.32 billion US dollars) in the mortgage market in response to the global credit crunch. Read more…

AFP - The leading share index fell sharply into the red on Friday after the proposed $700 billion bailout of the US financial sector hit an impasse amid political wrangling in Washington. Read more…

Reuters - Shares of Wachovia Corp and National City Corp tumbled on worries about heavy mortgage losses, as talks on a $700 billion financial sector bailout bogged down and regulators seized Washington Mutual Inc in the largest bank failure in U.S. history. Read more…

AP - Fortis NV plans to raise up to $14.6 billion by selling assets in a move to improve its financial underpinnings, the chief executive of the Dutch-Belgian banking and insurance company said Friday, seeking to reassure customers and investors. Read more…

AFP - Europe's leading stock markets sank Friday in early trade, hit by growing doubts about the progress of a 700-billion-dollar bailout package for the US financial sector. Read more…

AP - JPMorgan Chase & Co. Inc. came to the rescue of ailing Washington Mutual Inc. Thursday, buying the ailing thrift's banking assets after WaMu was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. This is the second time in six months that JPMorgan Chase has taken over a major financial institution crippled by bad bets in the mortgage market. Read more…

AP - JPMorgan Chase & Co. Inc. acquired the assets of Washington Mutual Inc.'s banking operations Thursday after federal regulators seized the ailing thrift, the country's largest. Read more…

Reuters - A group of conservative Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives offered a mortgage insurance plan on Thursday as an alternative to the Bush administration's $700-billion Wall Street bailout. Read more…

AP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered support for U.S. President George W. Bush's economic rescue package Thursday, a day before the two leaders plan to meet in Washington to discuss the global turmoil. Read more…

FT.com - The Merrill Lynch executives who took the decision to sell off a bunch of complex mortgage-related debt assets at about 22 cents in the dollar during the summer could have good reason to feel peeved once the US market bail-out plan is finalised. Read more…

AP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday the world came within "a whisker of catastrophe" during the recent financial crisis and that those responsible for the crisis must be identified and held accountable. Read more…

Reuters - Struggling savings and loan Washington Mutual Inc is still talking to buyers about selling itself, but first needs to hammer out whether it or the buyer would get government support. Read more…

AP - Rates on 30-year mortgages, which had been falling for five weeks, jumped sharply this week, reflecting the turbulence in global credit markets. Read more…

AFP - London shares closed up sharply on Thursday as optimism over the US Congress' approval of a 700-billion-pound government rescue plan fueled investor confidence. Read more…

Reuters - The chief regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said on Thursday he had no option but to seize control of the mortgage finance companies in early September since they had grown so unstable. Read more…

AP - Consumer confidence in Europe's largest economy rose slightly, halting a four-month slide, bolstered by falling oil prices and receding fears of inflation, a survey conducted before the meltdown on Wall Street earlier this month has found. Read more…