Reuters Business Summary

Barclays says global credit crisis easing but not over

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The global subprime crisis has yet to run its course, the chairman of British bank Barclays Plc (BARC.L: 行情) said on Sunday, amid concerns that big lenders will unveil more credit-related losses in coming weeks. "The crisis is not near an end. I think it will have a little further to go," Marcus Agius told reporters on the sidelines of an economic forum in the Malaysian capital.

U.S. seeks Swiss help in UBS tax evasion probe

ZURICH (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have sought legal assistance from Switzerland's Federal Office of Justice in an investigation into tax evasion through offshore bank accounts at UBS (UBSN.VX: 行情), Swiss media reported on Sunday. Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung reported that Swiss authorities were looking into the request for possible legal and administrative assistance.

Hedge investors hunt for next blockbuster strategy

LONDON (Reuters) - Top hedge fund bosses will debate whether an upturn in distressed investing or profitable macro strategies offer 2008's blockbuster trade, just as short subprime was in 2007, when they meet in Monaco this week. GAIM International 2008, held from June 17-19 in the Mediterranean resort for the super-rich, comes as the $2.6 trillion industry faces up to poor returns and investor outflows and searches for a follow-up to betting on falling subprime assets last year.

RBS investors approach Sainsbury's chairman: report

LONDON (Reuters) - Institutional investors in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: 行情) have approached Philip Hampton, chairman of supermarket group J. Sainsbury (SBRY.L: 行情), about becoming chairman of the bank, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The newspaper said a number of shareholders had approached Hampton and other "City heavyweights" in recent weeks to gauge their interest in the role.

Microsoft offered $9 bln for Yahoo stake, search deal

SEATTLE/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O: 行情) turned down the latest offer from Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: 行情) this week, it walked away from $9 billion in cash and $1 billion a year in additional operating profit, Microsoft said on Friday. In an e-mail to employees, Microsoft platforms and services division president Kevin Johnson said it had offered $8 billion for a 16 percent stake in Yahoo and $1 billion to buy Yahoo's search business and assume its operations.

Greenspan sees Fed getting tough on inflation

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Friday the Fed will have to tighten monetary policy to put a brake on inflation, adding that the worst of the credit crisis may have passed. Growing price pressures have led the U.S. central bank to recently shift to more aggressive anti-inflation rhetoric, and expectations are rising that policymakers will raise benchmark U.S. interest rates within months.

Gas prices top consumer worry, economists say