Swiss central bank chief Philipp Hildebrand on Thursday defended himself against criticism of foreign currency transactions made by his family last year and suggested "political motives" were at work.

Speaking publicly for the first time about the scandal, Hildebrand told media in Zurich that he had complied with all the regulations of the central bank.

Italy's top bank UniCredit has warned investors that if the eurozone crisis worsens the euro may be abandoned, though bank head Federico Ghizzoni Thursday said the scenario remained unrealistic.

In a prospectus released after UniCredit announced it was selling shares to meet new capital requirements, the bank flagged up a series of risk factors.

Iran said on Thursday it was "not concerned" about an imminent EU ban on its oil, saying it would endure the extra sanctions even though they amounted to "an economic war."

"Iran has always been ready to counter such hostile actions and we are not concerned at all about the sanctions," Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in a joint news conference with visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Fiat has added five percent to its majority ownership of Chrysler.

The Italian automaker got the added stake by making a car in the U.S. that gets 40 miles per gallon of gas.

Germany said on Wednesday the surprise naming of a Belgian economist to replace the German incumbent of a highly coveted European Central Bank position was "in no way a defeat".

Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Georg Streiter told a regular news conference that Germany had "no hereditary claim" to certain posts within the Frankfurt-based central bank.

Banks parked record sums at the European Central Bank while Germany held an uninspiring bond sale, suggesting investors are remaining cautious as new data suggested Wednesday the Eurozone crisis would likely linger well into 2012.

Banks placed 453 billion euros ($591 billion) on deposit at the ECB for 24 hours Tuesday, breaking a previous record set last week, the central bank said.

World oil prices hit their highest levels since November on Wednesday, before pulling lower, as traders fretted over heightened tensions between key crude producer Iran and the United States, analysts said.

The market also won solid support from a stream of positive economic data which boosted the outlook for the global economy and energy demand.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold talks on the Eurozone crisis here next week with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

Merkel will receive Monti, who took office in November, with military honors at the chancellor's office on January 11, Georg Streiter told a regular news conference.

Kuwait lodged an official protest with Iran on Tuesday over statements that Tehran plans to unilaterally develop a disputed gas field, the official KUNA news agency said.

Foreign ministry Undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah summoned Iranian Charge d'Affaires Sayed Tahabi and handed him a protest letter over the statements made a few days ago by a top Iranian oil executive, KUNA said.

Iran's currency, the rial, rebounded strongly on Tuesday, recovering completely from a dramatic 12-percent drop the day before, according to money changers and media.

The rial was trading at 15,900 to the U.S. dollar in the afternoon after it reached 17,000 against the greenback on Monday -- a record low for the Iranian currency.