Greece will receive all of a long-awaited 34.3-billion-euro ($45.2 billion) loan tranche from the EU and the IMF by Wednesday, a Greek official said on Tuesday, hours after an initial payment was carried out.

"The full amount should arrive by Wednesday," the official told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

Banking giant Santander said on Monday that it will absorb two of its Spanish offshoots, closing 700 branches in the latest stage of Spain's great banking shake-up.

Santander, the biggest bank in the eurozone by market value, said it could save 520 million euros ($680 million) a year by absorbing the offshoots, Banesto and Banif.

British oil giant BP said on Monday that it had agreed to sell its 50-percent stake in a North Sea gas field to energy firm SSE as part of its divestment plans.

"BP announced today that ... it has agreed to sell its interest in the Sean gas field in the UK North Sea to SSE plc for $288 million (219 million euros) in cash," it said in a statement, adding it will complete the deal in the first half of 2013.

Swiss insurer Zurich Insurance Group said on Monday that Superstorm Sandy had hit it with claims worth about $700 million (532 million euros).

"It's difficult to say exactly how much the final amount will be. It could be a bit higher or a bit lower (but) usually our estimates are good," Sylvia Gaeumann, a spokeswoman for the insurer told Agence France Presse.

Fukushima operator TEPCO soared almost 33 percent Monday, leading an energy firm rally after a pro-nuclear election win in Japan likely means any short-term plan to ditch atomic power will be shelved.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) rocketed 32.89 percent to 202 yen by the close, Chubu Electric Power jumped 9.59 percent to 1,188 yen and Kansai Electric was up 17.64 percent at 920 yen.

Europe will have to work "very hard" to maintain its generous welfare system and remain competitive, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a newspaper interview Monday.

"If Europe today accounts for just over 7.0 percent of the world's population, produces around 25 percent of global GDP (gross domestic product) and has to finance 50 percent of global social spending, then it's obvious that it will have to work very hard to maintain its prosperity and way of life," Merkel told the Financial Times in an interview.

Rating firm Moody's on Friday affirmed Sweden's coveted triple-A rating, citing the country's sound fiscal policies and continued progress in cutting its debt burden.

"The main driver underlying Moody's decision to affirm the Swedish government's Aaa rating and stable outlook is Moody's expectation of continued healthy public finances relative to Aaa-rated global peers," the company said.

Standard & Poor's cut Friday Croatia's credit rating to speculative over "insufficient reforms," warning of the deteriorating fiscal position in the EU-bound country.

The international ratings agency lowered Croatia's long-term sovereign credit rating from an investment grade "BBB-" to "BB+" in the so-called junk bond range. The outlook on the rating was put as stable.

The Federal Reserve plans to subject large foreign banks to the same rigorous standards applied to U.S. banks, including subjecting them to stress tests, according to draft rules unveiled Friday.

Foreign banks with global assets of more than $50 billion that are active inside the United States will be subject to credit-exposure limits under the regulations, with more lenient rules for smaller foreign banks.

On China's economic front line with North Korea, rocket launches are far from traders' minds and few worry about sanctions impeding the flow of cars -- or pianos.

China is by far North Korea's biggest trading partner and most of the business passes through its northeastern city of Dandong, where lorries piled high with tyres and sacks were being processed on Friday at a customs post.