The business week in pictures

Hector Sants, the outgoing chief of the City regulator the FSA, has donated his £143,750 bonus to the Art Room, a charity supported by the Duchess of Cambridge. Speaking on his last day in the Canary Wharf head office of the FSA, Hector Sants said there was a 'commercial opportunity' for financial firms to improve their treatment of customers
Photograph: Felix Clay for the Guardian

A tax avoidance scheme alleged to be used by thousands of wealthy individuals, including the comedian Jimmy Carr, is under investigation by authorities. HM Revenue and Customs told the Guardian that accounting firms using a scheme to create offshore loans and new contracts of employment for UK earners were being investigated
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

The number of millionaires in Asia has overtaken North America for the first time in a sign of wealth shifting across the globe due to the economic downturn, according to a new report Photograph: Tyrone Siu/Reuters

Tesco is paying rival Japanese supermarket operator Aeon a £40m dowry to take its loss making chain off its hands. After ploughing more than £250m and the best of a decade into trying to crack one of the toughest retail markets in the world, Tesco boss Philip Clarke hoisted the for sale sign over Tesco Japan last summer Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Falling petrol prices on Britain's forecourts pushed inflation to its lowest level in two and a half years last month, opening the way for the Bank of England to take fresh action to stimulate the economy
Photograph: Ibolya Feher for the Guardian

The government was hit with a mixed bag of unemployment data on Wednesday as the headline jobless rate fell but the number of dole claimants rose Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Heavy discounting and promotions at department stores helped pull in cash-strapped consumers and push up retail sales last month
Photograph: John Robertson for the Guardian

The governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, was blocked from pumping £50bn of electronic money into the economy earlier this month after he was outvoted on the central bank's interest rate setting body Photograph: Martin Godwin/Guardian

European leaders working to avert a meltdown of the single currency gained some respite when Greek voters handed a narrow victory to mainstream conservatives - New Democracy, led by Antonis Samaras - and the chance to forge a pro-euro and pro-bailout coalition. But a stock market rally fizzled out within hours and Spanish bond yields moved back into the danger zone Photograph: Andrea Comas/Reuters

Antonis Samaras, head of Greece's conservative New Democracy party, was sworn in as the country's new prime minister, following his victory in Sunday's general election Photograph: Evi Zoupanos/Corbis

Fitness First has been saved from administration after landlords approved a deal to reduce their rates by more than 70%. The country's biggest gym chain will also shed nearly half its sites and have about £600m of its debts wiped out
Photograph: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian

The US Federal Reserve announced a $267bn plan to underpin the US's fragile recovery Wednesday as chairman Ben Bernanke warned that unemployment was unlikely to improve before the end of the year Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

Vince Cable's attempt to bar the bosses of Farepak, the Christmas hamper business that went bust leaving 116,400 people out of pocket, collapsed at the high court. The Insolvency Service, part of Cable's business department, withdrew its case against the directors, including Sir Clive Thompson, a former president of the CBI Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images