What the other papers say this morning – 16 October 2013
FINANCIAL TIMES
US bankers attack London-China love
US bankers and UK lawyers attacked the new light-touch regulatory regime proposed for Chinese banks in the City on Tuesday, accusing George Osborne of political interference in regulation. As the chancellor confirmed details of a plan for Chinese banks to operate via branches rather than full-blown subsidiaries, senior US bank executives were stunned. “It is extraordinary to treat Chinese banks differently,” said one bank chief. “It’s very inconsistent. This is just a crazy lovefest.” Legal experts said the move sent an odd signal on the independence of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority to set rules for banks.
Fracking jobs forecast cut to a third
Britain’s shale gas industry will create far fewer jobs than the 74,000 figure cited by David Cameron this summer, according to a forecast produced on behalf of the energy department.The prime minister said in August that he expected fracking to lead to the creation of jobs in a North Sea oil-type boom.
Coalition complicates Italy’s budget
Italy’s coalition government was battling to meet a deadline set by the European Commission for submission of its 2014 budget on Tuesday, with the final text said by officials to be likely to contain blanks to be filled in later because of internal divisions over how to finance planned cuts in taxes on labour.
THE TIMES
OFT to investigate IT companies
The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate whether a small group of IT companies are unfairly winning the lion’s share of the £13.8 billion spent by the public sector each year on technology. The OFT intends to examine whether barriers to entry help bigger companies to win lucrative deals.
Fed to follow prize for US economist?
The US economist who won the Nobel Prize for wconomics said that he “wouldn’t rule out” running the Fed, but nobody had asked him to do it. Robert Shiller, best known for work on the housing market, said that he might consider putting himself forward for the top job at.
The Daily Telegraph
GSK’s Reilly kept in China
The British former chief of GlaxoSmithKline’s operation in China has returned to the country to “help” police with bribery investigations – but been barred from leaving, it can be disclosed. Mark Reilly, 47, is being kept in China by investigators while they look into claims that the pharmaceutical giant dispensed up to £300m in bribes. It follows a request from the authorities that he remain in the country. Mr Reilly left China in June, shortly before the Chinese police revealed the investigation and arrested four Chinese GSK executives. The company said he had returned at the end of July to “help the police with their investigations”.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
JP Morgan to settle Whale charges
JP Morgan Chase has agreed to pay $100m (£62.52m) to settle charges by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission related to the bank’s “London whale” trading debacle of 2012, according to people familiar with the matter. The CFTC is expected to fine the bank for the reckless use of so-called manipulative devices.
BMW donation to CDU draws fire
Angela Merkel’s conservative party came under scrutiny Tuesday over a nearly $1m donation made last week by the family behind BMW as the chancellor’s government was lobbying against EU plans for stricter limits on car emissions.