WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
INDIAN TELECOMS GROUPS HIT OUT AT CHARGES
Telecoms companies in India have raised alarm over a threat of retrospective charges for users of mobile spectrum that analysts warn could cost them hundreds of millions of dollars. The move by the Indian telecoms regulator has provoked interest from Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar.
MICROSOFT OFFICE 2010 TO BE PRELOADED ON 80PC OF PCS
Microsoft expects 80 per cent of the PCs sold after it launches the retail version of Office 2010 on 15 June to be preloaded with the new software. Customers will have several options for trying out the new software before paying online.
THE TIMES
DEATH KNELL FOR INTEREST-ONLY MORTGAGES
Lloyds Bank is cutting back on interest-only mortgages as it seeks to mitigate the increased risks posed by such deals. The bank, which is Britain’s biggest mortgage lender and is part-owned by the taxpayer, will insist that customers looking to borrow more than £500,000 make capital repayments. People taking out interest-only mortgages through Halifax or Cheltenham & Gloucester will also have to pay a levy of 0.2 of a percentage point. About one in five homeowners are estimated to be on interest-only deals. Millions of borrowers took out the loans during the housing boom and they are still popular among City workers.
The Daily Telegraph
INTERPOL HUNT FORMER ICELANDIC BANK CHIEF SIGURDUR EINARSSON
Sigurdur Einarsson, the ex-chairman and chief executive of collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing, is wanted by Interpol on suspicion of forgery and fraud. The former banking executive, who lives in West London, publicly blamed Gordon Brown for Kaupthing’s collapse in October 2008. He has now been listed on the website of the international law enforcement agency as “wanted”. Iceland’s special prosecutor issued an international warrant for Mr Einarsson yesterday, with a description of him as 1.8m tall, 114kg in weight, bald and with blue eyes. His former co-CEO was arrested last week.