Week in pictures

Stunned dealers and traders at Bear Stearns, the bank rescued by JP Morgan, turned up for work on March 17 2008 fearful of losing their jobs and finding the value of their stock options in tatters. Bear Stearns employs 14,000 people and is roughly 30% owned by its staff. The bank does not offer payouts, known as “golden parachutes”, for executives in the event of it being taken over. (Read the article) Photograph: Mario Tama/AFP

Dick Fuld, Lehman Bros
Total remuneration: £134.5m (since 1999 or during length of service)
Bank market capitalisation (August 2007): £15.9bn
Now: Lehman Bros delisted, September 2008
Credit crunch hits (since August 2007): £21.2bn
Photograph: Kevin Wolf/AP

The US Federal Reserve, led by its chairman, Ben Bernanke, brought markets back from the brink by cutting US interest rates by 0.75 points to 2.25%. (Read the article) Photograph: Stefan Zaklin/EPA

Smoothies and muffins in, 35mm film out - the latest basket of goods and services used by national statisticians to monitor inflation reflects a changing attitude to food, the abandoning of camera films and CD singles. (Read the article) Photograph: Linda Nylind/Guardian

Jérôme Kerviel, the trader accused by his bank, Société Générale, of being responsible for its record €4.9bn (£3.7bn) trading loss, was released from prison pending further investigation. (Read the article) Photograph: Christophe Ena/AP

The central bank of the world's second-biggest economy is effectively leaderless after opposition MPs thwarted a last-ditch attempt to appoint a replacement for the outgoing Bank of Japan governor, Toshihiko Fuku. (Read the article) Photograph: Koji Sasahara/AP

Shares in outdoor clothing and camping specialist Blacks Leisure plummeted after it admitted that it had discovered accounting irregularities which will wipe £2m from its profits. (Read the article) Photograph: Newscast

Tuesday: Legal & General chief executive Tim Breedon revealed that the insurance company had reassessed the strength of its capital reserves and cash position on the basis of an economic downturn lasting until 2012 Photograph: David Devins/Newscast

Fashion chain Next has warned of growing pressure on sales as the gloom on the high street deepens. (Read the article) Photograph: Dan Chung/Guardian

Banks are to swing the axe in the City with more than 10,000 jobs expected to go over the summer amid continuing turmoil on financial markets and fears that the UK and US economies are already in recession. Several thousand jobs have already been cut at banks including Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. Read the article Photograph: Daniel Berehulak/Getty