Regulators press on with Volcker Rule amid critics
Federal regulators are moving ahead with a rule that would ban banks from trading for their own profit. ...Republican lawmakers and a few Democrats questioned the merits of the so-called Volcker rule at a hearing Wednesday....The rule was required under the financial overhaul that the Democratic-led Congress passed ...

S&P cuts credit ratings for France, Italy, Spain
Standard & Poor's swept the debt-ridden European continent with punishing credit downgrades Friday, stripping France of its coveted AAA status and dropping Italy even lower. ...In all, S&P, which took away the United States' AAA rating last summer, lowered the ratings of nine countries, complicating Europe's efforts to ...