Freddie Mac, the US’s second largest mortgage finance lender, is delaying its earnings restatement until this month, having previously said it would restate its earnings for 2000-2002 by the end of the third quarter.

In an important financial and political move, Saudi Arabia announced it would grant a full branch banking licence to Germany’s Deutsche Bank, Europe’s second largest bank by assets.

Interchange fees for credit card transactions in Australia are to be virtually halved following tough action by the Reserve Bank of Australia (central bank) and the failure of an appeal by Visa, MasterCard and BankCard in the federal court.

The Turkish government is gearing up to dispatch troops to Iraq to assist in US-led peacekeeping operations and in the rebuilding of its south-eastern neighbour, in return for an $8.5bn soft US loan, despite protests from the Iraqis themselves and from Kurds living in the northern part of the country, writes Metin Demirsar.

News that South Africa’s financial sector has agreed to an ambitious black empowerment charter has pushed financial stocks upwards. The government-endorsed charter sets down detailed empowerment targets for companies, paving the way for as much as 25% of the sector’s value to be in black ownership by 2010.

Russia’s state-owned retail giant Sberbank issued its first Eurobond last month. The bank is the first to cash in on ratings agency Moody’s surprise decision to award a two-notch upgrade to the sovereign rating – taking Russia into investment grade territory.

William Donaldson, chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, argues that the costs of Sarbanes-Oxley and other reforms are opportunities from which companies can benefit.

HSBC chairman Sir John Bond talks to Karina Robinson about the transformational impact of the bank’s acquisition of Household International.