WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
MANDARINS TO BE OFFERED EARLY REDUNDANCY PAYOUTS
Thousands of senior civil servants are being offered voluntary redundancy ahead of big cuts in their severance terms, sparking fears that some of Whitehall’s most talented officials could walk before the terms are reduced. The offers are less to do with the coalition’s plans to tackle spending to reduce the budget deficit. Instead, they reflect plans that departments have been drawing up following the Labour government’s decision to cut the £500m cost of the senior civil service by 20 per cent over three years.
CITY BUSINESSES TO PAY FOR OWN SECURITY SQUAD
Companies moving into a huge new City office and retail complex will be asked to pay for their own dedicated police force, in a move some officers think will revolutionise relations between business and law enforcers.
The squad, provided by the City of London police force, will be deployed at the One New Change development opposite St Paul’s Cathedral, after a year-long police trial suggested businesses are happy to pay for extra protection against threats ranging from fraud to terrorism.
EADS SETS ITSELF ON COURSE FOR US PURCHASES
EADS is ready to use an €8bn (£6.75bn) cash war chest to make acquisitions in the US now it has weathered the downturn and completed a restructuring of its businesses, says its chief executive. “We have a strong cash position; the crisis is partly behind us; integration is very well advanced and now it’s time to go for acquisitions,” said Louis Gallois, head of Europe’s largest aerospace and defence group. “I am supported by the board for acquisitions and we will do it.”
theguardian
THE TIMES
OIL GIANT GAVE £1M TO FUND CLIMATE SCEPTICS
One of the world’s largest oil companies has broken its pledge to stop funding groups that promote scepticism about man-made climate change. ExxonMobil, parent company of Esso, gave almost £1m last year to organisations that campaign against controls on greenhouse gas emissions.
The Daily Telegraph
VINCE CABLE: BANKS ARE MISLEADING SMALL FIRMS
Vince Cable has attacked bank claims that they are approving at least four out of every five small business loan applications as “misleading” ahead of the launch of Government ideas to improve the flow of finance. The Business Secretary said that the banks had made it more difficult for businesses to apply and that they were failing to meet demand.
BRITISH FINANCIER ANTHONY WARD BEHIND £658M COCOA TRADE
A British financier is behind a £658m cocoa trade which single-handedly moved the global cocoa market. Anthony Ward, 50, bought 241,000 tons of cocoa beans. Ward, who is worth around £36m, holds so much of the market he could force manufacturers to raise the price of Britain’s favourite chocolate bars.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
DEUTSCHE CEO: WEST’S LEVIES ON BANKS MAY LIFT ASIA’S ROLE
Asia’s already rising importance as a profit center for financial services could gain more momentum as governments in the US and Europe levy new taxes on global banking profits, according to Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann. “The relative importance of Asia will even increase” as a result of regulatory moves against banks in the West, Dr. Ackermann said.
SEC SPLIT OVER GOLDMAN DEAL
The Securities and Exchange Commission split in its decision to settle its landmark lawsuit against Goldman Sachs, The Wall Street Journal has learned, in a dispute over the agency’s move to levy a $550 million fine even after diluting its fraud allegations against the giant bank. It was a 3-2 decision on party lines.