Oil prices held above $100 in Asian trade Monday, cheered by a surge in bank lending in China, the world's top energy consumer.

New York's main contract West Texas Intermediate for March delivery rose 30 cents to $100.60 in afternoon trade, while Brent North Sea crude for April eased 12 cents to $108.96.

South Korean regulators Sunday suspended some operations of three credit card firms as punishment for the unprecedented theft of financial data on more than 20 million people.

The country's largest-ever theft of personal financial data from KB Kookmin Bank, Lotte Card and NH Nonghyup Card involved more than 40 percent of the country's 50 million population.

Spain will sell its stake in bailed-out bank Bankia in stages over two or three years, its president said in an interview published Sunday.

Bankia became the symbol of Spain's financial crisis when it lost more than 19 billion euros ($26 billion) in 2012 and pushed the government to ask its eurozone partners for 41 billion euros in rescue loans to shore up the entire banking system.

Greece in 2013 registered a budget surplus of more than 1.5 billion euros ($2.05 billion), exceeding requirements for additional debt aid, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Sunday.

"We have created a primary surplus in 2013 when the target was for 2014... it is over 1.5 billion euros," Samaras told To Vima weekly in an interview.

Moody's kept Italy's debt rating unchanged at a low Baa2 investment grade Friday but improved its outlook from negative to stable as the country moved to choose a new premier.

The ratings agency cited the "resilience" of government finances, despite Italy's high debt and the tough challenges facing the country's economy.

For marijuana dispensaries around the country, the days of doing business in cash — driving around with bill-stuffed envelopes to pay the rent, or showing up at a state revenue office with $20,000 in paper bags for the tax man — can't end soon enough.

It's not clear that the Obama administration's new guidance on pot-related banking is going to end them.

The former CEO of Turkey's state-run Halkbank, who was arrested two months ago in a wide-ranging graft probe engulfing key government allies, has been released pending trial on Friday, media said.

Suleyman Aslan was among 24 people including the sons of three former cabinet ministers who were charged and remanded in custody as part of investigations into bribery allegations.

New growth figures on Friday should show the eurozone economy continuing only a modest recovery as key problems remain, among them near-record unemployment and the threat of deflation.

Recent data has been very mixed, especially after a much weaker-than-expected third quarter, sparking concerns the bloc risked falling back into recession.

AXA Middle-East et Visa ont signé un protocole d’accord pour la mise en place de la première carte de crédit assurance au Levant, une carte qui facilite les transactions et services à la clientèle.

Ceci a été le fruit de plusieurs mois d'études sur le terrain et une période d’essai d’un an afin de s'assurer de la faisabilité de ce service.

Japan said Friday it is moving to speed up the impact of a $50 billion stimulus package aimed at countering any slowdown from a looming sales tax hike.

The rare move -- which sets out a timeline for spending a big chunk of the special budget -- comes days before the release of fourth-quarter growth figures.