Shares in global banking giant HSBC fell more than two percent in Hong Kong on Wednesday after a top executive resigned over the lender's failure to control money laundering and terrorist financing.

London-based HSBC apologized Tuesday for failing to apply anti-laundering rules as U.S. lawmakers accused it of giving Iran, terrorists and drug dealers access to the U.S. financial system.

Baghdad's top energy official inaugurated a giant oilfield in south Iraq on Wednesday, with a group of Chinese, French and Malaysian firms set to pump 535,000 barrels of oil a day there within five years.

The official opening of the Halfaya field in Maysan province comes after Iraq signed three preliminary energy exploration deals with foreign firms, and with the country looking to ramp up oil output.

As markets and debt-wracked Eurozone countries cry out to Chancellor Angela Merkel for immediate action, a defiant top court and a strengthened role for Germany's parliament are slamming on the brakes.

On Thursday, German MPs will be dragged back from holiday to vote on a rescue package worth up to 100 billion euros ($123 billion) for beleaguered Spanish banks. Germany's parliament has to vote on all Eurozone bailouts.

In a hard-hitting report, U.S. lawmakers accused the global bank HSBC on Monday of opening the doors of the financial system to terrorists, drug dealers and money launderers.

Senators found the London-based lender allowed affiliates in countries such as Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh to move billions of dollars in suspect funds into the United States without adequate controls.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it had signed a deal to buy a mobile technology unit belonging to British firm Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) in a bid to improve its handheld devices.

Under the deal signed Monday, Samsung will buy CSR's facility which develops mobile connectivity and location technologies -- used in devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs -- by the end of this year, for $310 million.

Italian bank shares were unmoved on the Milan stock market on Tuesday despite action by Moody's ratings agency to downgrade 13 lenders following its sovereign rating downgrade for Italy last week.

Italy's biggest bank, UniCredit, inched up slightly by 0.1 percent after its rating was cut by two notches to Baa2 from A3.

Two Korean finance firms have submitted bids to buy parts of the Asian operations of Dutch banking giant ING Group, reports said Monday.

Korea Life Insurance, the country's second-largest life insurer, has bid for ING's Southeast Asian operations, which cover Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand, Dow Jones Newswires said.

The United Arab Emirates on Sunday inaugurated a pipeline to pump oil from east coast terminals, bypassing the strategic Strait of Hormuz which Iran has threatened to shut down, state-run WAM news agency reported.

The first shipment of 500,000 barrels of oil from the Habshan fields in Abu Dhabi emirate were pumped through the pipeline to Fujairah oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman, where it was loaded on a tanker headed for Pakistan.

Ford is recalling about 8,270 2013 Escape SUVs due to a problem with carpet padding that can interfere with braking, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Sunday.

"Ford is recalling certain model year 2013 Escape vehicles manufactured from March 8, 2012 through June 7, 2012," the statement said.

The U.S. dollar advanced against the euro in Asian trade on Monday as markets reacted calmly to China's growth slowdown and took heart from the earnings prospects of U.S. banks, analysts said.

The euro fetched $1.2239 in afternoon Asian trade compared to $1.2248 in late New York trade on Friday. The European currency also slipped against the yen, buying 96.82 yen from 97.08 yen.