Business week in pictures

In a busy week for banks reporting results, HSBC kicked off by more than doubling its pre-tax profits to $11.1bn (£7.2bn) Photograph: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images

Lloyds Banking Group stormed back into profit in the first six months of the year, reversing a £4bn loss with a £1.6bn profit. The news prompted calls that the biggest bank on the high street should be broken up. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Newcastle-based bank Northern Rock provided mixed news for the taxpayer. The so-called 'good bank' – which is being primed to compete with the high street banks – remained loss-making in the first six months of the year, while the 'bad bank' – shut to new business and containing existing mortgages – shot into profit during the same period Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

A man rides a bicycle from Barclays London Cycle Hire past a Barclays branch. Barclays has amassed a £1.7bn bonus pool for its 150,000 staff after its overall profits jumped to £3.9bn in the first half of the year, smashing market forecasts. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters

A man walks past a branch of Eurozone biggest bank Santander in Madrid. Santander has become one of the biggest banks on the British high street, leapfrogging HSBC after a deal to buy 318 RBS branches Photograph: Sergio Perez/Reuters

Royal Bank of Scotland has been fined £5.6m by the Financial Services Authority for failing to adequately screen customers and payments to prevent its banks – RBS, NatWest, Ulster Bank and Coutts – from being used for money laundering or the financing of terrorist activities. Photograph: Christopher Thomond

A tram with a Standard Chartered bank advertisement in Hong Kong. Standard Chartered says it might consider quitting its London base because of the government's levy on bank balance sheets and other regulatory changes. Photograph: Samantha Sin/AFP/Getty Images

The threat of a double-dip recession intensified after it emerged that Britain's powerhouse services sector saw its growth stall last month, jeopardising hopes of a sustained recovery. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

And retailer Next has warned that consumer spending is slowing down and is likely to be further constrained in the coming months as the government's austerity measures take hold and the forthcoming rise in VAT keeps shoppers away from the high street. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

New car registrations have fallen for the first time in a year as cash-strapped consumers hold off buying a new car amid uncertainty about their job prospects. Photograph: Yuriko Nakao/Reuters

Unilever, the maker of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Knorr soup and Flora, announced second quarter sales of €11.75bn (£9.75bn), below forecasts, as raw materials rose in price and consumers cut back Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Kellogg's has pledged to reduce high levels of sugar in its best-selling children's cereal following a sustained campaign by health groups. The company announced nutritional improvements to its existing Coco Pops chocolate cereal range. Photograph: Kellogg's

Expensive bottles of wines and other spirits auctioned in Paris. Wine has proved as resilient as gold during the recession, as investors consider it inflation-resistant, and at least you can drink it if all else fails Photograph: Piasa /EPA