WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
RUSSIAN LINK IN FRAUD CLAIM
A $150m fraud allegedly attempted by a former fund manager at Threadneedle Asset Management is linked to a trade in more than a billion Argentinian warrants by former staff at Otkritie, the Russian financial services group. Threadneedle confirmed on Tuesday that a former trader had been dismissed in August.
VOLCKER RULE POSES RECOVERY RISK
Japan and the UK have urged the US to rewrite its so-called “Volcker rule”, claiming that trading restrictions on US banks could hit the international sovereign debt market at a delicate moment in the global recovery. They say new US banking reforms could make it “more difficult, costlier and riskier for countries to issue and distribute debt”.
BREWER STARBEV FACES TAKEOVER
CVC, the private equity fund, has been assesing approaches from several brewers for Starbev, which it bought for $3bn in December 2009. It has not put Starbev up for sale or begun a formal sales process but the move follows approaches to CVC about a possible bid for the company, which it acquired from Anheuser-Busch InBev.
LIVINGSTONE REJECTS NEW AIRPORT
Ken Livingstone has spoken out against Boris Johnson’s plans for a new airport in the Thames estuary, saying it is unaffordable, would hurt wildlife and could harm west London.
THE TIMES
HOLIDAY INN OWNER TO CREATE 3,000 JOBS
The world’s biggest hotel company yesterday became the latest leisure operator to announce plans to create new jobs in Britain. InterContinental Hotels Group, which owns the Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Indigo brands, promised to take on almost 3,000 employees over three years.
School leavers given de-text lessons to speak the language business needs
Social networking has created an underclass of prospective employees who lack basic skills needed to join the workforce, says Peter Searle, UK chief executive of Adecco.
The Daily Telegraph
UK HOUSING MARKET HEADING FOR LOST DECADE, WARNS COLLINS STEWART
Britain’s housing market is heading for a “lost decade” and government aid to support the industry is based on “bunkum” projections of a property shortage in the UK. Coalition proposals to boost mortgage lending could leave first-time buyers in negative equity, says Collins Stewart.
RTSPAIN APPEALS TO BRUSSELS FOR EASIER DEFICIT REDUCTION TARGETS
Spain has appealed to Brussels for softer deficit-reduction targets, raising fears that Europe’s rescue strategies are unworkable in the bigger Eurozone economies.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
FEDERAL PANEL APPROVES WEIGHT LOSS DRUG QNEXA
A federal advisory panel yesterday overwhelmingly backed Vivus’s weight loss drug Qnexa, boosting the chance the Food and Drug Administration could approve a new prescription weight-loss drug for the first time in more than a decade.
WORLD BANK PUNISHES ALSTOM
The World Bank has temporarily blacklisted and fined two subsidiaries of the French engineering company Alstom after the companies allegedly offered bribes to gain a power-plant contract in Zambia a decade ago. The subsidiaries will pay $9.5m in restitution and face a block on Bank bids.