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The cost of the official inquiry into the events surrounding the collapse of MG Rover in 2005 has topped £14m, according to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.The inquiry, which is ongoing, has incurred £11.5m in costs, £445,660 in disbursements and just over £2m in VAT according to figures which cover the period until the end of November.In May 2005 the then trade and industry secretary, Alan Johnson, appointed inspectors Guy Newey QC, an insolvency law specialist, and forensic accountant Gervase MacGregor to investigate the events leading to MG Rover's decision to call in administrators in April 2005.Johnson said at the time he wanted the inspectors to report 'as quickly as possible'. MG Rover's Longbridge plant was subsequently closed with the loss of some 6,000 jobs and many of the assets were sold to the Chinese company Nanjing Automobile Corporation. The Longbridge site has been extensively redeveloped, though Nanjing is using part of the original plant

AP - Slovak banks did brisk business as they opened on New Year's Day for a very special occasion ? issuing euros to citizens eager to get their hands on the country's new currency.

Geographically and historically, New York City begins in the small space below Wall Street.

ATLANTA (AP) -- Two mega acquisitions in the banking sector have been completed following the biggest financial crisis to hit the United States since the 1930s, capping a year in which Wall Street stocks were hammered, home foreclosure rates soared and job losses mounted....

ONE year after the defection of its stock-picking team, Suncorp is relying on 'temporary' backup staff at its investment management business.

On a lower base of around 7,40,000 vehicles though, 2009-10, might just be a better year. For one, interest rates on auto loans are expected to come down and by the second half of 2009, banks might be more willing to lend than they are right now ...

Major League Baseball launches its own cable network Thursday. It's being heralded as the biggest network launch in history. Madeleine Brand talks to Maury Brown, president of the Business of Sports Network, about whether the MLB channel can succeed where other professional sports networks have failed.

At the start of a new year, many companies will revisit their business plans and goals. A business plan is only useful if it's updated and not a dust collector....

Allied Waste Management, a garbage collector in St. George, Utah, says its clients aren't throwing out as much as they used to. The company says trash tonnage is down 10 percent to 15 percent. St. George has seen an increase in new homes, but many of them are empty. The garbage truck drivers are paid per house and by tonnage, so less trash means drivers are taking home $25 to $50 less each week.

Wells Fargo & Co. said Thursday it completed the acquisition of Wachovia Corp., creating a financial-services giant with $1.4 trillion in assets, a service network covering 48 million banking homes and a community-banking group spanning 39 states and the District of Columbia.