WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
WELLS FARGO EYES EUROPEAN BANK ASSETS TO POWER EXPANSION PLANS
Wells Fargo plans to increase the size of its wealth management and insurance divisions through acquisitions as well as buying more assets from shrinking European banks, its chief executive says. John Stumpf, whose bank’s market capitalisation is bigger than that of any other in the US, told the Financial Times he had “sore toes” from “kicking the tyres” on so many potential deals.
PIK NOTES POISED FOR RETURN
A speculative, often toxic type of debt that became popular at the peak of the economic boom and recently contributed to the failure of UK retailer Peacocks could be staging a return. Payment-in-kind notes are not typically repaid until their mature. They also rank low down on the list of creditors to be repaid should a firm collapse.
BLOOMBERG SERVICE IN $100M REVAMP
Bloomberg will unveil a $100m-plus redesign of its eponymous market data service today, ratcheting up its rivalry with Thomson Reuters by seeking to make its complex 30-year-old system simpler, more intuitive and easier to navigate.
AXA PLANS PROPERTY LENDING DRIVE
Axa is gearing up to lend €2bn to European property companies during 2012 as one of Europe’s largest insurers bids to cash in on the regulatory pressure curtailing bank financing across the continent.
THE TIMES
HIGH STREET JOBS SURVIVE FLURRY OF FAILURES
The wave of high street failures over the past year has cost nearly 20,000 store workers their jobs. However, two thirds of staff and stores survived the administration process, according to insolvency practitioners FRP Advisory.
CBI BACKS CLAMPDOWN ON BLACK BOX TAX DODGES
Big business will today back a rule to crack down on “abusive” tax arrangements as it begins a campaign to highlight its £163bn contribution to the Exchequer. Company tax chiefs claim the corporate world’s reputation is being tarnished by some firms engaging in dubious tax arrangements.
The Daily Telegraph
ROLLS-ROYCE TO SET UP SAFETY COMMITTEE
Rolls-Royce is to form a safety committee after heavy criticism of the UK manufacturer for its handling of an engine blow-out on a Qantas A380. The firm has hired City heavyweight Sir Frank Chapman, chief executive of BG Group, to chair the committee, which will be assembled this year.
DAVID ROSS FACES SHOWDOWN AT COSALT
David Ross, the founder of Carphone Warehouse, faces a showdown with hundreds of minority shareholders at oil services group Cosalt today. They are planning to revolt against his plans to delist the company next month.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
EUROPE
FORD FACES STIFF CHINA HURDLES
Ford is facing stiff industrywide regulatory obstacles to future growth in China, even as the auto maker launches a $490m plant to boost its presence there. The plant opened Friday in southwest China—its third passenger-car plant and fourth overall assembly plant in China. It will give it much-needed capacity to help propel sales.
HARPERCOLLINS SELLS TEEN WEBSITE
HarperCollins Publishers is selling its teen website Inkpop to a bigger rival called Figment, abandoning a digital experiment begun in 2009. Both sites are aimed at teens who post their own writing and critique the work of others.