Vietnam has banned its banks from handling Bitcoins, saying the virtual currency is not legal tender in the communist nation.

Bitcoin, invented in the wake of the global financial crisis, is a form of cryptography-based e-money that offers a largely anonymous payment system, but its value is highly volatile.

Japan's recovery is holding steady ahead of a looming sales tax hike, economic indicators showed Friday, though weakness in wages and spending suggest it remains vulnerable to a reversal.

The consumer price index rose 1.3 percent in January and factory production also climbed.

French gas giant GDF Suez reported a huge net loss for last year, the latest gas provider to reveal the depth of upheaval from the boom of shale energy in North America.

The group, which also distributes electricity, reported a net loss of 9.7 billion euros ($13.24 billion) for 2013 from sales which slipped by 0.8 percent to 81.3 billion euros.

Britain's state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland plunged into a near £9.0-billion loss last year on vast charges for litigation and the creation of a 'bad bank' division, it said Thursday.

The lender, which is 81-percent owned by the government after a huge bailout during the global financial crisis, added it would seek to slash its cost base by another £5.3 billion in the coming years and warned of more "inevitable" job cuts.

Lending to businesses in the debt-mired eurozone contracted again in January, data published by the European Central Bank showed on Thursday.

Private sector loans dropped by 2.0 percent in January in a year-on-year comparison, the ECB said, after already contracting by 2.3 percent in December.

Britain's economy grew by less than thought last year, but still showed the fastest annual growth since before the financial crisis, revised official data showed on Wednesday.

The nation's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 1.8 percent in 2013, down from the previous growth figure of 1.9 percent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement giving its latest estimates.

Switzerland's second largest bank, Credit Suisse, used elaborate measures to find wealthy clients and help an estimated 19,000 U.S. customers evade American tax authorities, a scathing report from a Senate inquiry said Tuesday.

The report contains the results of a two-year Senate investigation and comes a day before the heavily-anticipated questioning of Credit Suisse chief Brady Dougan and other top bank officials before the panel.

Oil prices eased in Asian trade Wednesday as dealers await the latest U.S. crude stockpiles data for clues about demand in the world's biggest economy at the tail-end of a harsh winter.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for April delivery, eased 13 cents to $101.70 in afternoon trade. Brent North Sea crude for April was down 16 cents at $109.35.

Consumer confidence in Germany is still on the rise as households feel optimistic about their income expectations, a new poll found on Wednesday.

"Consumers remain optimistic," market research company GfK said in a statement.

Asia experienced a billionaire boom last year, with more than 200 people from the continent seeing their net worth pass into 10 figures, a Chinese publisher said Tuesday.

A total of 824 Asians were included among the 1,867 people named as dollar billionaires on the Hurun Report's global rich list.