As the global economy rewrites the history books the unlikely scenario laid out above may well become a reality in the not too distant future. Following in the footsteps of the record profit making Tesco group, that well known British institution, Boots the chemist have also announced that they are considering a move into the personal banking sector. The company, who operate 2,600 stores throughout the UK see the recent financial instability and subsequent public disillusionment with the traditional banks as an opportunity to carve themselves out a niche in the latest generation of high street banks that are about to spring up after the UK economy regroups itself. And who can boast a cleaner image than Boots?

The eagerly anticipated list of the UK’s super wealthy has just been announced and there are some less than happy faces around this year. The UK’s wealthiest man, steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal is a lot less better off than he was last year. To be exact, 23.5 billion pounds less well off. Overall, the figures show that the ultra-rich are now 155 billion pounds in total less well off than one year ago, and the number of UK billionaires now number 43 from 75 this time last year. Sad but true.

Not before time some might say, but at a recent of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held in Washington, finance ministers from around the World have announced that urgent reforms of banking systems in developed countries is long overdue and should be implemented at short notice to hasten global economic recovery.

A sign that this refreshing thinking has yet to hit the corridors of that Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) is they news that bank officials have yet to respond to an official request by the Treasury Committee for information on pay and bonuses at the bank..

They were not the only bank to receive such a request and also not the only one of the state controlled banks to ignore it.

As the stock exchange closed for the weekend the FTSE 250 index closed at 7,369.75 up 180 points, while the FTSE 100 finished the session up 137.6 points, higher at 4,156 on Friday

Sterling fell slightly against the dollar and rose against the Euro as well as the Japanese Yen and the Swiss Franc:

Pound/US dollar 1.462

Pound/Euro 1.104

Pound/Japanese Yen 140.49

Pound/Swiss Franc 1.6671

Wall Street shares enjoyed a fair days trading before the markets closed for the weekend.

The Dow Jones Average rose 119.23 points to close at 8076, 3. Nasdaq continued its steady climb of late up 42.08 points to 1694.29

The market may have been buoyed by the news that Ford’s results for the first quarter of 2009 were better than expected, and will allow them to refrain from accepting government aid, unlike two of Ford’s biggest rivals, General Motors and Chrysler, who have taken billions of dollars in US government aid yet still face bankruptcy

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Tags: Bank, Bank of England, Boots, British Economy, IMF, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, Royal Bank of Scotland, Tesco, UK Banks