The People's Bank of China belatedly responded to a cash crunch at Chinese banks that had caused interbank lending rates to rocket. The central bank had declined several opportunities over a week to intervene, insisting there were plenty of funds available, but it eventually acted to increase liquidity in the banking system. Earlier, the Shanghai stockmarket had plunged dramatically, closing at its lowest since January 2009. American markets remained jittery after the Federal Reserve confirmed that it was likely to begin "tapering" its asset-buying programme later this year. Gold prices fell to their lowest level in nearly three years; the yields on Treasuries were at their highest since August 2011. But a senior central banker, Richard Fisher, gave warning that the Fed would not be deterred by "feral hogs" in the markets from easing its support. Oink, oink Those market hogs were perversely cheered by news that America's economic growth rate for the first quarter had been revised down, to 1.8% at an annual rate from a previous estimate of 2.4%. A weaker economy could delay the start of any tapering by the Fed. Jacob Frenkel, the chairman of JPMorgan Chase International, was appointed as governor of the Bank of Israel, a surprising choice given that he was not among the front-runners to take over from Stanley Fischer, who is retiring after eight years. It is the second time in the job for Mr Frenkel; he led the central bank during the 1990s, when he was credited with bringing rampant inflation in Israel under control. Another step was taken towards a European banking union when finance ministers reached a deal that would force creditors to shoulder losses at bust banks. If the European Parliament agrees, such "bail-ins" would become law in 2018 and require bondholders to chip in to the costs of failed banks. Insured deposits under €100,000 ($130,000) will be exempted from the new rules. Britain and China established a three-year currency-swap arrangement, which British banks can tap if they face a shortage of offshore yuan in the London market. The deal is a boost to China's ambition for the yuan to be widely traded in international markets. No laughing matter Embarrassing tape recordings emerged of conversations in 2008 between senior executives at the now-defunct Anglo Irish Bank, which suggested they had misled regulators about the extent of the trouble the bank was in at the time of its bail-out. The executives were also heard joking about sticking "two fingers up" to Britain and Germany. Ireland is currently pushing for a retroactive recapitalisation of its banks from the euro zone's bail-out fund, which finance ministers only recently agreed to consider. Citigroup became the first American bank to be given permission to open an office in Baghdad (it currently handles its Iraqi business from Amman, Jordan's capital). Despite this year's wave of sectarian violence in Iraq, Citi is betting on future returns from the country's vast oil wealth, which could see it become one of the world's biggest oil exporters over the next ten years. The consortium that is developing Azerbaijan's vast natural-gas reserves rejected the proposed Nabucco pipeline project to carry the gas to Europe. It is expected instead to select the Trans Adriatic Pipeline, a less expensive operation that plans to tap Azeri gas in Turkey and pump it across Greece and Albania before reaching southern Italy. Kabel Deutschland, Germany's biggest cable-television provider, welcomed Vodafone's formal €7.7 billion ($10 billion) takeover offer. Mayors from more than a dozen American cities, including New York and Los Angeles, sponsored a new initiative to look at ways to make it easier for firms to operate in the "sharing economy," where people rent services to each other over the internet. Many start-up websites that match owners and renters have run foul of local regulations on health and safety. The mayors promise to "review" how such regulations affect peer-to-peer renting. Death of a scoundrel Marc Rich, a controversial commodities trader and the founder of Glencore, died at the age of 78. Mr Rich built his fortune by skirting the embargo on Arab oil in 1973-74, selling it for sky-high prices to American firms. He also traded with Iran despite sanctions and was charged with evading $48m in tax. Bill Clinton pardoned him in 2001; some say this was partly because of the largesse that the Rich family showered on Democrats. A fugitive in Switzerland, Mr Rich once summed up his philosophy as "you can't run a business based on sympathies."