What the other papers say this morning – 11 November 2013
FINANCIAL TIMES
Fears over abuses in metals markets
Britain’s parliamentary financial watchdog has urged regulators to probe potential abuses in metals markets as deeply as they are investigating the scandals over foreign exchange and Libor benchmark interest rates. Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury select committee, told the Financial Times that MPs were conscious of growing concerns that manipulation of rates may go well beyond those areas and into metals markets.
ECB split stokes German backlash fears
Divisions at the heart of the European Central Bank over last week’s rate cut have revived fears in Frankfurt of a German popular backlash against the bank’s policy making, even as the ECB faces decisions critical to the eurozone’s future. People involved in the policy debates said divisions between northern and southern representatives on the ECB board have been mounting since market pressures on the eurozone relaxed, with council members freed up to revert to national interests.
Renault-Nissan misses electric car goal
Global sales of electric cars are more than four years behind expectations, Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Renault-Nissan said, as he admitted for the first time that the industry leader would miss its targets for the new generation of vehicle.
THE TIMES
Serious Fraud Office calls in spies
The country’s leading white-collar crime-fighting organisation is reforging ties with British spying agencies to boost its hunt for corporate crooks. David Green, the director of the Serious Fraud Office, said that the move was essential to deter companies from brushing wrongdoing under the carpet instead of coming clean to his agency.
Travelzest investors want sale share
Disgruntled investors in Travelzest have set up a shareholder action group to claim a share of the proceeds from the winding up of the AIM-listed holiday operator. The group claims to speak for holders of more than 10 per cent of the shares.
The Daily Telegraph
Fuel duty holiday for small stations
Ministers are being urged to allow thousands of independent petrol station owners to change the way they pay millions of pounds of fuel duty in a bid to protect Britain’s smaller forecourts.
Industry figures are pressing business minister Michael Fallon to allow independents to defer paying the tax until after the fuel has been sold to motorists.
Families snack on graze boxes
The online snack retailer graze almost doubled sales last year as thousands of new customers ordered its healthy food boxes. Sales rose from £20.9m to £40.2m in the year ending in February.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
EUROPE
Bankers may face chat room block
Big banks are considering blocking employees from computer chat rooms that have become pervasive tools of the modern trading floor, but which face mounting scrutiny from regulators as potential venues for collusion and market manipulation. J.P. Morgan Chase and Credit Suisse Group are discussing internally whether to disable computerised chat rooms that electronically link traders across multiple banks and are used by tens of thousands of employees globally, according to people familiar with the discussions. Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Barclays and Citigroup also are reviewing chat-room use and electronic communications.