Goldman 'lied' over role in financial crisis - today's papers

Goldman Sachs will be referred to the US Department of Justice for allegedly making "misleading and inaccurate" comments to Congress over its role in the financial crisis.

Senator Carl Levin, co-author of a 650-page report into the causes of the 2008 financial collapse, said yesterday that it would be up to DoJ officials to decide whether to prosecute the bank for lying to a Senate committee last year. MORE...

Four years after the financial crisis began the IMF said confidence in the world banking system was yet to be fully restored, with many advanced nations still "living dangerously". MORE...

The fragile state of the British economy has been underlined again by a sharp increase in the number of UK firms in financial difficulties and profits warnings from two more companies listed on the London stock market. MORE...

Gold prices could top $1,600 per troy ounce before the end of 2011 as the fragility of the global economic recovery, fears about inflation and turmoil in the middle east and north Africa drive prices higher. MORE...

Bank of Ireland has announced losses of almost 1 billion euro (£889.9 million) for last year. MORE...

President Barack Obama set a June deadline for a bipartisan deal to cut the federal deficit and offered a path to get there that was designed to contrast with a Republican proposal he called unfair to the elderly and overly generous to the wealthy. MORE...

China's growth probably slowed in the first quarter, helping to defuse the risk of overheating in an economy where inflation is estimated to be running at its fastest pace since 2008. MORE...

The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa said excessively volatile commodity prices pose a threat to the global economy and called for greater regulation of derivatives markets. MORE...

Consumer confidence has rallied after crashing to a record low, offering hope of some respite for businesses suffering as worried Britons rein in their spending. MORE...

Forcing Britain's largest banks to hold more capital could have the unintended consequence of leading them to take on more risk, according to Moody's. MORE...

China is poised to become an "exporter of inflation to the rest of world", according to Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), which warned that the threat from rising prices in the world's second-biggest economy is underestimated. MORE...

Commodities trading giant Glencore has announced its intention to raise $9bn-$11bn (£5.5bn-£6.7bn) on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges. MORE...