Business week in pictures

The Federal Reserve moved a step closer to pumping more money into the ailing US economy after a majority of its nine-person policymaking committee agreed to consider steps to stimulate demand. The central bank gave the clearest signal yet that it intends at its next meeting to inject funds into the economy through a programme of quantitative easing to reverse a slowdown in output and offset the risk of a double-dip recession. Meanwhile, in Britain, inflation remained stubbornly high last month. The consumer prices index measure of inflation remained steady at 3.1% after a record jump in the cost of clothing and footwear during September was offset by falls in air fares and petrol prices Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

In a major overhaul of Britain's competition regime, the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission are to merge into a single competition and market authority. The move is designed to cut costs and comes ahead of George Osborne's spending review next week Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

A workman uses the escalators in the One New Change shopping mall in London. The number of people claiming unemployment benefits jumped last month, adding to fears that government spending cuts will send the economy back into recession. Figures showing the claimant count climbed by 5,300 last month to 1.47 million appeared to cement a decline in the jobs market, after a recovery earlier this year. City economists said the figures were bleaker than expected and were likely to worsen over the coming months as government austerity measures took effect Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Lloyds Banking Group was accused of flouting its responsibilities to the public as it axed 4,500 jobs. The bank, in which the taxpayer owns more than 40%, is now on course to have cut 20,000 posts as part of its ongoing three-year plan to integrate HBOS with its existing Lloyds operations Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

It also emerged this week that Lloyds has lost more than $500m (£350m) on loans to M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas – the second massive financial hit the bank has taken in America in as many months. News of the deal has started attracting attention to the value of Lloyds's overseas portfolio, much of which it acquired during the unpopular takeover of HBOS is 2008. Market watchers had previously attributed most of the woe associated with that acquisition to lending within HBOS's UK corporate division Photograph: Levi Ellyson

The cost of the banking crisis to private investors – many of them first-time investors – was spelled out by new research showing that the near £1,500 windfall of shares handed to millions of former members of Halifax when it converted from a building society has collapsed in value to £38. On the second anniversary of the multibillion taxpayer bailout of the banking system, research by the Guardian and stock broker Hargreaves Lansdown showed the devastating impact on the 7.6m Halifax customers who received free shares at its landmark stock market flotation in 1997 Photograph: Christopher Thomond

High street retailer Gap has been forced to scrap an expensive new logo days after its launch following an online backlash from consumers. But Gap's rapidly retracted new logo caused a stir among the Twitterati, who were asking: was it a cunning wheeze or a cock-up? Photograph: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

A disgruntled passenger who set up a website called I Hate Ryanair to share travel 'horror stories' has been ordered to hand over the domain name to the low-cost airline he loathes. Robert Tyler, from Walthamstow, north-east London, set up the site in February 2007. He called Ryanair, run by Michael O'Leary (pictured), the 'world's most hated airline' and 'a bunch of filthy thieving bastards'. The airline's victory was shortlived. In a posting, it emerged the site moved from ihateryanair.co.uk to ihateryanair.org Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Standard Chartered is raising £3.3bn through a rights issue to shore up its finances ahead of the introduction of new global capital rules. The bank, which specialises in emerging markets in Asia and Africa, said it would offer shareholders the right to buy one new share for every eight shares held at a price of £12.80, a 32% discount to Tuesday's closing price in London Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

JP Morgan, the US banking group, set the tone for Wall Street when it began the reporting season by putting aside another $6.7bn in pay and bonuses for its 237,000 staff worldwide in the third quarter of the year Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

Americans wait to restructure their mortgages at a loan modification event in Los Angeles. Another bank has become embroiled in a growing scandal over 'robo signers' in the US mortgage foreclosure crisis. It has emerged that Wells Fargo, the second-largest US mortgage servicer, which unlike rivals is still carrying out foreclosures, used a worker who quickly rubberstamps documents without checking their accuracy. Bank of America, JP Morgan and GMAC have halted foreclosures after discovering that these 'robo signers' had signed off on thousands of foreclosure documents Photograph: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

Guy Hands, the private equity financier, is seeking a staggering £7bn in damages from Citigroup in a showdown with the American bank that moves to a New York court next week. Hands's investment group, Terra Firma, is suing Citigroup over its disputed take-over of EMI for £4.2bn on the eve of the credit crunch. He is demanding compensation for EMI's accumulated losses of £1.75bn and a punitive sum worth three times that figure, which would give him £7bn Photograph: Fabrice Dimier/Bloomberg via Getty Images

EasyJet will pay its founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, at least £65m over 10 years to settle a long-running and acrimonious dispute over the 'easy' brand name. The budget airline will be allowed to keep the 'easy' name, but is paying a price for it. For the next 50 years, with a minimum term of 10 years, it will have to pay Haji-Ioannou's easyGroup an annual royalty of 0.25% of revenues, capped at £3.9m and £4.95m in the first and second years respectively Photograph: AP

A Steiff Chimpanzee Fireman from the 1920s. A disgraced hedge fund manager's collection of luxury teddy bears and soft toys has sold for more than £1m. Paul Greenwood, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges in the USA last year, is believed to have owned the collection which went under the hammer at the Christie's saleroom in South Kensington, London. The top lot out of the collection of 1,300 Steiff toys was a Harlequin teddy bear circa 1925, which sold for £46,850 Photograph: Katie Collins/PA