WHAT THE OTHER PAPER SAY THIS MORNING
THE SUNDAYS
The Sunday Telegraph
BAE HIRES PINOCHET LAWYER FOR SFO FIGHT
BAE Systems has instructed General Pinochet’s former QC to handle its defence if the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is successful in persuading the Attorney General to proceed with a fraud prosecution against the arms manufacturer.
GOVERNMENT PLANS FAST-TRACK NUCLEAR EXPANSION
The government is set to hand an expanded role to Britain’s nuclear industry and suggest more sites for new reactors as it unveils controversial guidelines for fast-tracking major energy projects through the planning process. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, will tomorrow reveal his blueprint for the future energy industry in a series of “national policy statements”.
THE SUNDAY TIMES
TRINITY MIRROR CLOSES FINAL PENSION SCHEMES
Newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror is joining the list of companies closing their final-salary pension schemes to existing members. The owner of the Daily Mirror and numerous regional titles is entering a two-month consultation with staff after concluding it can no longer afford to support the scheme.
BONDST RINGSUPRECORD
Shop rents on London’s Bond Street, home to the world’s glitziest brands, are poised to defy the credit crunch and smash through £900 per square foot – a record in Britain. Retail sources said that luxury conglomerates, thought to include LVMH and Richemont, owner of Cartier, were believed to be eyeing part of a prime unit available at 169 New Bond Street.
TODAY
FINANCIAL TIMES
FINANCE MINISTERS’ ALARM OVER EU DEBT
The EU’s public debt could rise by 2014 to 100 per cent of GDP – a year’s economic output – unless governments restore fiscal discipline, EU finance ministers will be told.
LSE SET TO ALLOW ‘HIDDEN’ ORDERS
The London Stock Exchange is for the first time set to allow traders to place “hidden orders” on the exchange in a move likely to fuel controversy over “dark pools” and market transparency. Hidden orders are large orders – for example of 20,000 share in a particular stock – placed on a trading venue but where only a fraction of the whole order is displayed. When that fraction – for example 5,000 shares – finds a match, the next fraction of the order is immediately displayed.
The Daily Telegraph
LLOYDS PLEDGES HELP TO 300,000 BUSINESS START-UPS
Lloyds Banking Group is promising to help 300,000 new businesses get off the ground in the next three years and match rivals on charges and fees.
The commitment, in the shape of a new “2012 SME charter”, is aimed at both meeting complaints from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) about the difficulties of raising finance, and fulfilling pledges to the government to make a bigger effort to ease constraints and provide more support to ease the recovery from recession.
RICHER SOUNDS WARNS OF SQUEEZE ON MARGINS
Richer Sounds, the hi-fi and television retailer owned by entrepreneur Julian Richer, has warned that “difficult trading conditions” have put pressure on its margins over recent months.
THE TIMES
BROKERS UNITE OVER CLAIMS OF BANKS BULLYING THEIR CLIENTS
Three of the City’s leading stockbrokers have written to Lord Myners, the City Minister, accusing Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group of “corporate bullying” by forcing companies that owe money to the banks to use their investment banking services.
USWITCH LOOKS CHEAP BY COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS PRICE AS SALE APPROACHES
USwitch, the price comparison website, is close to a sale, but the price tag is thought to be less than half the £210m that its owner paid for it three years ago. Scripps Networks Interactive, the American group that owns uSwitch, is understood to have entered exclusive talks with a buyer. An announcement is expected before Christmas.