Bank Capital Levels

European governments have discussed setting a deadline for banks to boost their capital, the German newspaper Die Welt said, citing an unidentified person involved in the talks.
Under the plan, governments would force banks to accept public funds to increase their capital once the deadline had passed, the newspaper said. European Union countries would have to act jointly for the plan to work, the newspaper reported.


Actelion jumped 4.8 percent to 32.38 Swiss francs after Jefferies Group Inc. raised the stock to “buy” from “hold.”

Givaudan gained 2.5 percent to 763.50 francs. The company said nine-month sales rose to 2.97 billion francs ($3.3 billion), a 4.7 percent gain in local currencies. Givaudan repeated its mid-term forecast to expand at about double the pace of the 2 percent to 3 percent growth predicted for the wider market.

Lonza Group AG (LONN), the world’s biggest maker of drug ingredients, rose 1.6 percent to 57.65 francs as it announced a partnership with Lipogen for phosphatidylserine.

Zurich Financial Services dropped 2.6 percent to 193.20 francs as a gauge of insurers posted the worst performance in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Swiss Reinsurance Co. sank 2.6 percent to 45.35 francs.