The business week in pictures

Britain's banks face the most radical overhaul in decades as Sir John Vickers' independent commission on banking publishes its final recommendations. George Osborne heralds the year-long review as a "decisive moment" to force through the first major changes to the structure of the industry since the 2008 financial crisis. Even so, the reforms will take longer than expected – until 2019 – to implement and are not as draconian as some campaigners had hoped. Photograph: Andrew Winning/Reuters

Fears of a deepening of Europe's debt crisis have prompted the world's leading central banks to pump US dollars into the financial system, in a co-ordinated action designed to boost market confidence.The Bank of England joined the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan to announce that they would flood money markets with dollars over the coming months. Photograph: Jung Yeon-je/AFP/Getty Images

In an announcement that sent its shares plunging by nearly 10%, UBS warned of a potential loss of around $2bn (£1.3bn) after City of London police turned up at its London headquarters to arrest trader Kweku Adoboli on suspicion of what the public know as rogue trading but which the law calls "suspicion of fraud by abuse of position". Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

The industrial conglomerate DuPont has won $920m (£583m) in damages in the largest ever settlement in intellectual property, after a US jury ruled that a South Korean firm had stolen trade secrets about the high-strength fibres used in its Kevlar body armour. The Korean firm said it would appeal and was "confident that a fair and favourable decision will be reached on appeal". The firm is also countersuing DuPont. Photograph: Paul Hackett/Reuters

Public sector job cuts imposed as part of the government's austerity drive have sent unemployment back through the 2.5m barrier, according to official figures released on Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics said the number of people out of work rose by 80,000 in the three months to July, reaching 2.51m, mainly due to a sharp rise in youth unemployment. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Much loved children's character Peppa Pig is for sale after brand owner Entertainment One confirmed that it was considering a number of takeover offers. Shares rose by 32p to 195p, valuing Entertainment One at £358m, after it announced the approaches to the London Stock Exchange. Photograph: PR

John Lewis, middle England's favourite shop, has been battered by tough price competition on the high street and slumping consumer confidence with profits falling sharply in the first half. The figures are the worst from the partnership since the financial crisis of 2009. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Facebook will delay its initial public offering until the end of next year so employees can focus on developing products for the social networking website, the Financial Times has reported. Facebook, which is expected to have one of the biggest IPOs in history, plans to go public at the end of 2012, a later public debut than it originally planned, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the company. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

The continuing global economic crisis hit the housing market last month as the number of house sales dropped to a two-year low, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). It said the number of sales handled by each surveyor in the three months to the end of August dipped slightly to 14 – the lowest level since June 2009. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA

Cairn Energy, the Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer, is abandoning a second well in Greenland after its controversial venture to find oil in the Arctic again drew a blank. The Gamma-1 exploration well off the west coast of Greenland, within the Arctic circle, found no oil or gas. The company is drilling five wells in the region in a project costing £400m. Photograph: PA

The days of "cheap chic" and throwaway fashion could be numbered, because the cost of clothes is rising at its fastest rate for nearly 15 years. The "fast fashion" trend is being battered by big increases in the cost of cotton, labour and transport. Figures show the cost of clothing jumped 3.7% between July and August – the biggest month-on-month increase since the Office for National Statistics (ONS) started compiling the data in 1997. Photograph: Kazuyoshi Nomachi/Corbis

Ted Weschler, a hedge fund manager, paid $5.2m to win two charity auctions to have dinner with investment guru Warren Buffett. Now Buffett has offered him a job. Weschler, 50, the managing partner of Virginia-based Peninsula Capital Advisors, will join another recent Buffett appointee, hedge fund manager Todd Combs, 40, to help manage Buffett's $66bn Berkshire Hathaway investment fund as its 81-year-old founder contemplates retirement. Photograph: Getty Images

Marks & Spencer is wheeling out an array of props including mopeds and pasta machines as part of a £600m revamp of its shop floors, which will see stores within stores created for its clothing ranges and the return of delicatessen counters. The revamp was ordered by the chief executive, Marc Bolland, who believes the shops remain stubbornly difficult to navigate and less than "inspiring". Photograph: Adrian Brooks

Private healthcare firms are experiencing an increase in business caused by the financial squeeze across the NHS in England, a new report on the sector shows. In a survey of 101 influential industry figures – including chief executives, investors and advisers – 34% said budgetary pressure in the NHS had led to increased demand for private healthcare. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Catalogue retailer Boden revealed a jump in profits, with customers around the world buying into the British retailer's distinctive brand of middle-class casual clothing. Boden said its accounts, set to be filed at Companies House later this week, would show turnover up 15% to £232m, and pre-tax profits up 13% at £32.5m, for the year to the end of last December. Photograph: Martin Argles

Westfield Stratford City shopping centre, the biggest urban shopping centre in Europe at 1.9m square feet, opens in east London on the edge of the Olympic site. According to developer Westfield, it is creating 10,000 jobs, Photograph: Sarah Lee