What the other papers say this morning – 16 September 2013
FINANCIAL TIMES
Diamond calls for bank shake-up
Bob Diamond – the former head of Barclays who tried to buy Lehman Brothers before its collapse five years ago – has joined a chorus of criticism over the lack of progress in ending banks’ “too big to fail” status. Citing “insufficient” progress in ways to safely wind down failing financial giants, Diamond has called for fresh international co-ordination to end the fragmenting approach to bank regulation. Writing in the Financial Times, the former banking boss expresses an apparent change of heart about the risks that Barclays and other banks were taking in the years before the crisis, by admitting that leverage was “too high in the boom years”.
Chrysler goes for IPO as last resort
Chrysler is planning to file documents for its initial public offering this week after majority owner Fiat and the healthcare trust that owns the rest of the US carmaker failed to agree a market price in a long-running dispute.
Shares for rights cuts executive tax
George Osborne’s “shares for rights” scheme, which aims to boost business start-ups, is helping to cut executive tax bills in the private equity industry. Managers of Whitworths have been offered tax-free shares in the century-old supplier of dried fruit and nuts in one of the first uses of the chancellor’s scheme, which allows staff to give up their employment rights in exchange for equity stakes.
THE TIMES
Bombardier challenger takes to skies
It is the plane that would break the commercial dominance of Boeing and Airbus. If only it could get in the air. Yet after nine months of delays, the partly Belfast-built Bombardier C Series single-aisle commercial jetliner will finally fly over the skies of Quebec today.
Hotels added by former Hilton chief
Sir David Michels will announce a return to branded hotels today through the launch of a joint venture in Ireland with Royal Bank of Scotland. The former Hilton Group chief executive is teaming up with the bank to launch a new hotel brand — tipped to be called The Collection — that would initially comprise at least 25 hotels.
The Daily Telegraph
Japan shuts last nuclear reactor
Japan has switched off its last nuclear reactor and will have to rely on imported oil and gas to power its industrial machine for the rest of the year, bowing to anti-nuclear sentiment as controversy rages over the botched handling of the Fukushima clean-ups.
Cook sales up in wake of scandal
The upmarket frozen food retailer Cook has reported a surge in sales as it benefits from a growing demand for higher quality ready meals following the horsemeat crisis. The family-run company, which has 67 shops and also sells its food through more than 350 independent supermarkets and farm shops, said like-for-like sales rose by seven per cent in the year to March.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
EUROPE
Siemens heirs ask for leadership
The heirs to the founder of Siemens called for a return to calm at the top of the German engineering giant, amid a continuing dispute over the leadership of the company’s supervisory board. The intervention this weekend by the secluded heirs of Werner von Siemens is a rare move and could indicate that a younger generation is keen to play a more active role.
Insidious: Chapter 2 leads box office
Insidious: Chapter 2 continued the horror genre’s streak at the box office this weekend, exploding into an lifeless month with an estimated $41m (£25.82) gross in the US and Canada.