WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
TRICHET CALLS FOR TOUGHER EURO RULES
Eurozone members that break the region’s rules on public finances should be excluded temporarily from Europe’s political decision-making, the president of the European Central Bank has proposed. The controversial suggestion by Jean-Claude Trichet would be part of a “quantum leap” in the governance of Europe’s 11-year old monetary union, needed to prevent a future Greece-style economic crisis.
MPS VOTE TO PROBE PHONE HACKING CLAIM
MPs have united to attack the British media during an impassioned debate in which they voted unanimously for the Commons’ most powerful committee to hold an inquiry into the News of the World telephone hacking affair. The government supported a motion brought by Chris Bryant, former Labour minister, to urge the committee on standards and privileges to open an inquiry into claims MPs’ calls were hacked but that they were not informed by the police.
JAPAN ALARM OVER CHINA’S JGB PURCHASES
Japan has expressed concern about China’s recent sharp increase in purchases of Japanese government bonds in the latest of a series of sour notes in a traditionally tense bilateral relationship that both sides had worked hard to steady.
CICC FACES WAVE OF KEY DEFECTIONS
China International Capital Corp is facing defections of key staff as two private equity firms – Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG – prepare to take a stake in the investment bank. At least 30 senior CICC employees have been approached in recent months about leaving to join foreign rivals, said a person familiar with the matter.
THE TIMES
CONNAUGHT AUDIT PARTNER LEFT PWC IN THE SUMMER
The auditor who signed off the last set of accounts from Connaught, the social housing repairs group that went into administration this week, has left PricewaterhouseCoopers, it has emerged. According to filings with Companies House, Stephen Harrison ceased to be a partner of the Big Four accountancy firm on June 30.
BLACKWELL OPTS FOR PARTNERSHIP
Blackwell will take a leaf out of John Lewis’s book and transfer ownership of the 130-year-old bookseller to its staff. Toby Blackwell, the last representative of the founding Blackwell family and the owner of the chain, said that he was setting up an employee partnership, following the John Lewis model, which will hand control to the company’s 949 staff.
The Daily Telegraph
OVERDRAFTS AT RECORD RATES
August saw overdraft rates reach their highest level since records began in 1995. Moneyfacts, the independent savings analyst, identified a pattern of lenders setting current accounts with long interest- free credit periods to attract customers. But these are offset by elevated interest rates which later affect borrowers.
BANKS ARE STUCK IN 2007, SAYS TOWERGATE FOUNDER
Peter Cullum accuses banks of “outrageous behaviour” and calls for “new set of lending standards”. The chairman of the insurance broker said banks had failed to move on from their response to the global financial crisis and were applying the “rules of 2007 to 2010”. “The behaviour of banks over the last eighteen months has, with some notable exceptions, been quite outrageous.”
WALL STREET JOURNAL
GREEK PM SET TO MAKE SMALL CONCESSIONS
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is expected to make a major annual policy announcement on Saturday that could offer some concessions to groups hit hard by austerity. The measures could include a small assistance package for vulnerable households, certain private-sector funding subsidies and a cut in corporate taxes.
SPAIN APPROVES NEW LABOUR LAWS
Spanish lawmakers yesterday gave their final approval, without making major changes, to a long-awaited overhaul of labour laws expected to help cut unemployment and spur economic growth. The parliamentary vote came at the end of a two-month period allowing lawmakers to make changes to legislation approved in June.