Business week in pictures

MP pressure could prompt a National Audit Office investigation into the award of a £1.4bn government contract to the German company Siemens – ahead of Britain's last remaining train factory, run buy Bombardier. The transport select committee has asked the National Audit Office to scrutinise a contest in which Siemens was chosen as preferred bidder for the procurement of 1,200 carriages for the London Thameslink route instead of Canada's Bombardier, which would have built the vehicles at its Derby plant Photograph: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Patent news … a new angle. BT is claiming billions of dollars of damages from Google in a lawsuit filed in the US that says the Android mobile operating system infringes a number of its key patents. The British telecoms company believes that the Android OS uses technology it developed in Maps, Music and Market products Photograph: Jeff Chiu/AP

HMV announced the sale of its live music venues, which include the Hammersmith Apollo and HMV Forum, Kentish Town, in order to raise funds at the struggling music and entertainment group. HMV has debts of more than £160m and earlier this year sold the book chain Waterstone's to Alexander Mamut Photograph: Luke Macgregor/Reuters

Spain's new prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, pledged public spending cuts of at least €16.5bn (£13.8bn) and said that he would force the country's banks to own up to the full scale of losses on bad property loans. Rajoy told parliament that Spain had no alternative but to embrace austerity measures Photograph: Emilio Morenatti/AP

The chancellor, George Osborne, addressed MPs with news that the recommendations of the Vickers' Report, or if you prefer, the Independent Commission on Banking were being given the seal of approval by the government. The reforms include forcing lenders to form barriers between their retail operations and riskier investment arms, to protect ordinary customers better in any future crisis Photograph: Jim Dyson/Getty Images

Apple scored a victory in its smartphone patents battle with HTC, after a US trade agency imposed a formal import ban on any HTC phones that infringe on the patent, starting on 19 April 2012. As the ruling only covers one patent, analysts predicted that HTC could find a workaround solution to it Photograph: Ashley Pon/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Carbuncle no longer, then. Grade l listed status was conferred on the Richard Roger's-designed Lloyd's building in London. The postmodern structure, with pipes, lifts and toilets presented on the exterior, becomes one of only a handful of modern developments to be granted this honour Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Recurring problems with the US economy led to the ratings agency Fitch warning that it may downgrade America's triple-A credit rating unless action is taken to reduce federal debt. Last month Fitch changed its US credit rating outlook to negative from stable. Pictured: Performers from New York City Ballet's production of George Balanchine's 'The Nutcracker' visit the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before ringing the Opening Bell Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA

HSBC appeared to have won a major concession from the chancellor, after George Osborne revealed that the government would not apply some of its new banking rules to international banks that could prove their operations would not threaten the UK taxpayer. The bank, the UK's biggest, recently said it may consider a move away from its base in London because of the cost of banking reform Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

Falling profits at the UK chocolatier were blamed, in part, on steep discounting of the firm's products at supermarkets. The 100-year-old company reported that it would not make a profit in 2012 and has plans to close 180 of its 579 stores Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

The European Central Bank announced that more than 500 banks had borrowed around €500bn (£417bn) in three-year loans as part of its long-term refinancing operation (LTRO). The loan deals offer lower-grade collateral in exchange for loans pegged to the central bank's main interest rate, currently at a record low of 1%. Analysts remained sceptical about the move's potential for a positive outcome … Pictured: Construction work on the new headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) called Skytower in Frankfurt, Germany Photograph: Michael Probst/AP

Faster-than-expected growth was reported for the UK in the third quarter but, sadly, this was prefixed by the word 'slightly' and followed up with economists' predictions that the growth would not be sufficient to avert a winter recession. Pictured: People walk by boarded up shops in Altrincham Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images