What the other papers say this morning – 27 September 2013
FINANCIAL TIMES
Rabobank to settle over Libor
Rabobank, the Dutch lender, is on track to settle as early as next month allegations that it helped to manipulate key benchmark interbank rates.
The expected settlement with US, UK and Dutch authorities is forecast to be less than the £390m paid by the Royal Bank of Scotland in February, said people familiar with the situation. It underscores an acceleration of the worldwide investigation into the Libor scandal, coming so soon after ICAP’s £55m settlement announced on Wednesday, together with US charges brought against three of ICAP’s former brokers. Rabobank had suspended several employees and continued to pay the legal fees of at least two individuals.
Boris hints at Commons return
Boris Johnson has given his strongest hint yet that he wants to return to Westminster in comments that will spark new speculation over his Tory leadership ambitions ahead of the party’s conference in Manchester this weekend.
The London mayor said that during the recent Commons debate on Syria he felt a desire to return to the frontline of national politics.
Video games developers warned
An Office of Fair Trading probe into “free” video games that encourage young players to spend money on virtual goods has found numerous cases of “unfair commercial practices”. It found some of games it examined were likely to breach consumer protection law.
THE TIMES
North is best for student landlords
Forget Oxford, Cambridge or even London, Glasgow is the most lucrative city to be a student landlord, according to new research. Property website Zoopla analysed every university town and city in the UK by yields on buy-to-let student property. The Scottish city came out on top, followed by Hull and Manchester.
Stamp dealer adds coins to collection
A lifelong coin collector is selling the stock market’s only numismatics business to Stanley Gibbons for £45.7m. Noble Investments yesterday advised its shareholders to accept a 255p-a-share takeover approach by the country’s leading stamp dealership.
The Daily Telegraph
G4S bids for banknotes contract
G4S is preparing a joint bid with French printing company Oberthur for the £1bn contract to produce Britain’s banknotes, which could be plastic for the first time in their 300-year history, from 2015 to 2025. G4S would provide security and move the cash, while Oberthur, which also makes credit cards, would focus on printing.
Branson to challenge Carlos Slim
Sir Richard Branson has announced plans to take on fellow billionaire Carlos Slim in the Mexican mobile market. His follows a change in Mexican law earlier this year designed to loosen Slim’s stranglehold on the country’s telecoms market.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Irish property prices rise
Irish home prices rose for the fifth consecutive month in August, again led by a strong rise in the capital, evidence that the country is beginning to emerge from the property crash that sent its economy into a tailspin and wrecked its banks.
Slovenia says it can fix banks itself
Despite continuing stress in its banks and a protracted recession, Slovenia is determined not to become the sixth Eurozone nation in need of an international bailout and will fix its financial sector without outside help, the country’s senior officials said yesterday.