(Reuters) - As a CEO, David Bramhill could handle the online attacks on his looks and his character. "You get used to the personal stuff that goes up: 'Fat bastard,' etc.," says the burly one-time boxer and oil industry veteran. "I don't like it but I suppose being in the position I'm in, OK, they can take pot shots at me." But when the messages on internet bulletin boards became a concerted campaign of criticism against his oil and gas exploration company, Bramhill snapped. "When it comes to dishonesty, and not running the company the way it should be run, and spreading untrue rumors -- this is where we've got major, major issues," a disillusioned Bramhill told Reuters in early September.

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(Reuters) - China sought Monday to reassure people that inflation will remain in check, voicing confidence that ample grain supplies and excess capacity in industry will keep a lid on price pressures. Economists said the effort to manage inflation expectations was meant to reinforce an array of measures in recent days to curb actual inflation, including Friday's order to banks to hold more of their deposits in reserve instead of lending them out.

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(Reuters) - British engine maker Rolls-Royce Plc won a $1.8 billion order from Air China, offering some respite to the company which had been hit by safety fears over another of its engines. The world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines said on Monday it had received an order from Air China to provide Trent XWB engines for 10 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft and Trent 700 engines for 10 Airbus A330 planes.

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(Reuters) - Federal authorities may file a series of insider trading cases against hedge fund traders, consultants and Wall Street bankers within weeks, several lawyers familiar with the situation said. Prosecutors and securities regulators are likely to file a number of cases targeting the $1.7 trillion hedge fund industry rather than a single spectacular case, said the lawyers, who have knowledge of the investigations but did not want to be identified since details have not been made public.

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(Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday after China's central bank moved again to battle inflation, though positive results from technology companies limited losses. The People's Bank of China raised bank reserve requirements for the second time in two weeks, stepping up its fight to rein in prices, a move that could temper growth.

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(Reuters) - Regulators moved on Friday to bring more transparency to the sprawling derivatives market, hedge funds and private equity, all dimly lit corners of the financial world slated for more oversight. A raft of proposed rules issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, all preliminary, showed regulators taking cautious steps to implement reforms mandated by Congress in July.

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(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's Merrill Lynch and UBS Wealth Management Americas have recently been luring financial advisers from each other as the recruiting war among the big brokerage firms continues to rage. Merrill Lynch recently added five new financial advisers generating a combined $7.5 million in annual fees and commissions.

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(Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hit back on Friday at critics of the U.S. central bank's bond-buying program and issued a thinly veiled attack on China's policy of keeping its currency on a leash. Bernanke, facing a chorus of protests about the asset-buying spree from within and outside the central bank, said a more vigorous U.S. economy was essential to fuel the global recovery and dismissed charges he was debasing the dollar.

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(Reuters) - A financial aid plan to help Ireland cope with its battered banks will be unveiled next week, EU sources said on Friday, but experts warned a rescue may not be enough to prevent contagion to other euro zone members. Europe's single currency fell back late in the day and the risk premium investors demand to buy Irish debt instead of benchmark German bonds remained high as optimism about an aid deal was tempered by a sense the crisis is far from over.

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(Reuters) - China ordered lenders on Friday to lock up more of their money at the central bank for the second time in two weeks, stepping up its battle to pull excess cash out of the economy before inflation has a chance to take off. The People's Bank of China said that it would increase banks' required reserves by 50 basis points, its fifth such announcement this year. Including an earlier temporary increase, the move takes required reserve ratios (RRR) to 18.5 percent for big banks, a record high.

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