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The article focuses on the improvement in the profit of European banks Credit Suisse Group Ag and Barclays PLC in 2009. Credit-Suisse gained a net profit of about two billion Swiss francs for the first quarter as a result of improving fixed-income trading. John Varley, chief executive of Barclay, claimed that the bank's financial performance was better than last year and that it plans to resume the payment of dividends in the second half of this year. Credit Suisse also cited that it has allocated money for year-end shareholder payouts.

The article reports on the support of a European Medicines Agency panel to warnings for antianemia drugs used by cancer patients in the U.S. The agency opted to recommend blood transfusion over epoetin-containing drugs such as Aranesp of Amgen Inc. and Procrit of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) due to the risk of tumor development and death which outweights the medication's benefits. J&J said that it will cooperate with European health authorities to revise the drug's labels to reflect the panel's recommendation.

The article reports on the plan of the leaders of Europe's largest economies to push for a tougher, more-global way of regulating the world's markets and banks. The leaders, led by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, are hoping that by joining together, they will be able to convince the U.S. and others to sign up. According to Brown, they believe that they can persuade the whole international community of the need for reforms that they propose.

The article offers a look at the world stock market performance of several foreign banks. Investors expects European banking stocks to increase through potential acquisition deals and share buybacks. Information is presented on the financial performance of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria and Royal Bank of Scotland. Details involving the takeover negotiation between Barclays and ABN Amro Holding is mentioned.

The article reports on the financial performance of European banks Barclays PLC and Credit Suisse Group. Barclay's profits increased by 14 percent in the first half of 2007, while Credit Suisse reports a 48-percent increase in net profits for the second quarter of the year. Both banks are optimistic that the U.S. subprime lending crisis will not affect their profitability.