Financial education has been confirmed as an official part of the English national curriculum, including lessons on the public finances.

Sesame, the adviser network arm of Sesame Bankhall group, has reported a loss for 2012 of £9.3m - four times its losses in 2011 - as a provision for a regulatory fine took its toll.

Almost a third of advisers have plans to expand their business in the next six months, either by recruiting additional staff or through mergers or acquisitions, according to research from the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA).

The number of financial advisers operating in the UK has risen slightly in the first half of the year, according to figures from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Friends Life's UK business took a dip in the first half of the year as the company paid off a further £5m of a £6m fine levied against Sesame.

Aviva has reported a profit after tax of £776m for the first half of this year, turning around a £624m loss for the half year 2012 - but said UK life operating profit fell.

Aegon's net income fell 2% in the first half of this year, as higher underlying earnings were offset by losses on hedges due to rising equity markets and volatility - and an £18m loss on the sale of Positive Soltuions.

Royal London has completed the acquisition of the Co-operative Banking group's life insurance and asset management businesses.

Announcements on tax evasion and phoenixing to shed debt out today

Legal & General (L&G) yesterday announced it has upped the base salary for its top executives by a fifth to £560,000.