Key Berlusconi Ally Removes Support (WSJ)
Umberto Bossi, a key ally of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Tuesday said he asked the premier to step aside and supported Angelino Alfano as his possible successor. "We have asked [Mr. Berlusconi] to take a step aside," Mr. Bossi said, adding that there won't be any relevant news today. Asked by reporters if he expects Mr. Alfano, the new head of Berlusconi's party, to be a possible new prime minister, Mr. Bossi replied "who else?" Mr. Berlusconi is still in last-minute talks aimed at saving his conservative government ahead of a key parliamentary vote later Tuesday, as investors renewed pressure on the premier to step down and allow a new government to steer the country out of Europe's debt crisis.

Berlusconi Exit No Quick Fix for Italy's Woes (Reuters)
FYI.

Credit Suisse Warns US Clients Of Probe (Herald Sun)
Credit Suisse says it has warned US clients that they may be the target of a US tax probe, and urged them to hire lawyers to represent them. "The letter exists," a spokesman from the bank said, referring to media reports of a statement sent by the bank to its US clients over the tax investigation. He declined to say how many of the bank's clients are recipients of the letter, which also advises the clients to engage a contact person in Switzerland who could represent them if required at the Swiss tax office.

Face-Off Over MF Global Shortfall (WSJ)
JPMorgan and MF Global Holdings Ltd. agree on one thing: The two financial players worked together closely in the months before MF Global collapsed. Then things get messy. People close to MF Global have complained that J.P. Morgan dragged its feet when settling trades made by MF Global as it rushed to sell assets, according to people familiar with the situation. Executives at MF Global have grown concerned that the slowdown complicated efforts to find a buyer for the company or its parts and might even have caused a $600 million gap in customer accounts that is now the subject of a protracted treasure hunt.

Greek Leaders Struggle To Agree On New Premier (Retuers)
So far they have agreed that a "100 day" coalition should be set up to push a 130 billion euro ($180 billion) bailout for Greece through parliament and that elections should be held in February. But after days of wrangling, no one knows who even will lead this government.

Romney Battled Guns And Dogs In France (Reuters)
"The fresh-faced Latter-Day Saints who came to France in the late 1960s to preach the message of Jesus Christ—of whom Republican presidential candidate Romney is the best known—discovered a secular and skeptical populace, and few willing converts. On bad days, the young Americans were greeted with guns, or barking dogs chased at their heels."

Greece Hurts SocGen (WSJ)
The Paris-based lender said net profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 fell to €622 million ($856.93 billion) from €896 million in the same quarter last year, undershooting analyst forecasts of €732 million. Société Générale's revenue rose 3.2% to €6.5 billion from €6.3 billion a year earlier but plunged 36% at its corporate and investment bank because of choppy markets. Revenue at its international retail bank fell 2.3% but was up 6.4% at its French network.

Citi, JPMorgan May Face Highest Basel Surcharges (Bloomberg)
Citigroup, JPMorgan, BNP Paribas SA, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and HSBC Holdings Plc may face top capital surcharges of 2.5 percentage points, according to a provisional list prepared by global regulators and obtained by Bloomberg News. The list was drawn up as part of plans by the Group of 20 nations to force banks whose failure could damage the global economy to boost their reserves by 1 to 2.5 percentage points above minimum levels agreed on by international regulators. Bank of America, Barclays and Germany’s biggest bank Deutsche Bank AG may face surcharges of 2 percentage points, according to the list.

This Grisly Find? A Bear Paw, It Turns Out. (It Happens a Lot.) (NYT)
The discovery was unnerving, to say the least. A severed limb found Sunday evening in a yard in Rosedale, Queens, appeared to be the foot of a young child. A cadaver dog searched the scene. Concern over a missing youth mixed with fears of a child killer. And then science intervened. Bradley Adams, the chief forensic anthropologist in the New York City medical examiner’s office, inspected the remains on Monday, and decided that the foot most likely belonged to a bear, said Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office. To minimize possible confusion, Ms. Borakove literally spelled it out: “B-E-A-R,” she said over the telephone. “How could someone confuse a bear and a human?” Dr. Adams mused in a subsequent phone interview. “It’s more common than you think.”