The sudden "sick leave" taken by the former police chief of the Chinese city of Chongqing fueled rumors that he had sought political asylum with the U.S. a day earlier.

Vestas Wind Systems said its chairman and deputy chairman will step down in March, hard on the heels of the resignation of its financial chief late Tuesday, as the world's biggest maker of wind turbines swung to a larger than forecast net loss in 2011 and warned it may not be profitable in 2012.

Stephen Hester, chief executive of the largely U.K. government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, said he had considered resigning from the bank during the recent row over his bonus.

China greatly increased its presence in the Japanese debt market last year, tripling its trading volume from the previous year, a move likely to give ammunition to those calling on Beijing to open up its own financial markets to outside investors.

Taiwanese personal computer maker Acer said it has filed a lawsuit for breach of contract against its former CEO and president Gianfranco Lanci, who now heads the Europe, Middle East and Africa division at rival Lenovo.