WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
SEC CHARGES EX-GOLDMAN TRADER
A former Goldman Sachs trader and his father have been charged by securities regulators with insider trading for allegedly profiting after learning confidential information about the bank’s trading strategy around an exchange traded fund. The SEC, in a civil action, alleged the former Goldman trader, Spencer Mindlin, tipped off his father, Alfred Mindlin, an accountant, about Goldman’s hedging trades pegged to an ETF, which mirrors a basket of securities.
LACK OF AVIATION TIES TO EMERGING WORLD EXPECTED TO COST £14BN
The UK is at serious risk of missing out on trade with emerging markets worth £14bn during the next decade because of inadequate aviation links, according to a report by consultants Frontier Economics. The inability of London’s overstretched Heathrow airport to support more flights to developing countries may already be costing the UK £1.2bn each year as trade goes to better connected European competitors.
SSE POISED TO QUIT NUCLEAR PLANT BUILD
Scottish and Southern Energy is in talks to pull out of a consortium planning to build a nuclear power plant in the UK, as the company seeks to concentrate on renewable energy.
REGULATORS TAKE THEIR TIME OVER TMX BID
Canadian regulators are unlikely to rule for at least another three months on a C$3.8bn bid by a consortium of banks and pension funds for TMX Group, operator of the Toronto and Montreal exchanges. The Competition Bureau will make its views known only after hearings by the Ontario and Quebec securities commissions, according to a person familiar with the process.
THE TIMES
BRITISH GAMBLERS CAUGHT OUT BY CRACKDOWN DEMAND MONEY BACK
British gamblers who were left out of pocket by the demise of Full Tilt Poker are considering taking legal action to get their money back.
The gamblers have been unable to gain access to funds that they had used on the poker website since Full Tilt became caught up in an unprecedented crackdown by US authorities against online gaming in April.
APACHE PICKS UP ANOTHER PIECE OF THE NORTH SEA
ExxonMobil has become the latest oil major to sell off its ageing fields in the North Sea after agreeing a $1.75 billion deal with Apache. The deal will boost the American buyer’s North Sea production by 19,000 barrels per day, or 54 per cent. The assets sold belong to Exxon-Mobil subsidiary Mobil North Sea.
The Daily Telegraph
BRITAIN LOST £35BN IN UNCOLLECTED TAXES LAST YEAR
Britain lost £35bn in uncollected taxes last year – the equivalent of 7.9 per cent of the annual revenue, the Treasury has admitted. The so-called “tax gap”, which is the difference between the amount of tax due and the total collected, was reduced from 8.1 per cent of revenues from the year before but critics argue that the figure is still too high.
NEW TAR BALLS ON GULF OF MEXICO BEACHES COME FROM BP OIL SPILL
Tar balls that turned up on the US Gulf coast this month are linked to BP’s oil spill last year, signalling that the area is still not fully cleaned up, a study has found. Researchers from Auburn University found the environmental impact of the spill is continuing 17 months since oil leaked into the ocean.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SCHMIDT DEFENDS GOOGLE IN HEARING
Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt defended the company’s search practices at a congressional hearing yesterday, as lawmakers came close to saying that the Internet-search service is a monopoly that could use its dominance of online searches to steer users to its own sites. His appearance, before a US Senate Judiciary subcommittee, pits the search company against review sites such as Yelp and Nextag.
VERIZON CEO CAUTIONS GOVERNMENT ON BLOCKING AT&T DEAL
Lowell McAdam, who as chief executive of Verizon Communications Inc oversees the country’s largest wireless carrier, has waded into the debate over whether AT&T Inc should be allowed to buy competitor T-Mobile USA for $39bn.