WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
DISPUTE ERUPTS OVER CONTROL OF LIBYA’S $65BN SOVEREIGN FUNG
A dispute has erupted over control of Libya’s $65bn (£40bn) sovereign wealth fund, as the national transitional council attempts to maintain stability in the nation. Several NTC members have contested the authority of Mahmoud Badi, who is probing corruption at the Libyan Investment Authority.
HONG KONG’S CHOI FAMILY CALLS OFF RAB DEAL
Hong Kong’s billionaire Choi family has backed out of plans to acquire funds from RAB Capital, the beleaguered London-based hedge fund manager. The move comes amid further steep losses for RAB’s investment vehicles – including those that the Sunwah conglomerate, which the family owns, had intended to purchase and make the foundation of a new large-scale alternative asset management business in London.
CHESAPEAKE IN TALKS OVER OHIO SHALE FIELD
Chesapeake, the second-biggest gas producer in the US, is in talks with oil companies and private equity groups to find a partner to help develop its new Utica shale field in Ohio. Aubrey McClendon, chief exec, said he hoped to pick a joint venture partner to buy 25 per cent of the project by the end of September or October to begin developing the firm’s 1.25m acres field by the end of the year.
JINHUI LATEST TO WARN COSCO ON CONTRACTS
Jinhui Shipping and Transportation, one of Asia’s biggest listed dry bulk shipping companies, has become the latest company to warn China’s Cosco of dire consequences if it reneges on contracts, after threatening correspondence between the two over charter rates.
THE TIMES
COUPON-CRAZY FAMILIES BEING SOLD SHORT
Recession-hit Britons are latching on to online discount vouchers despite mounting evidence that consumers are being misled. In less than six months, the advertising watchdog has banned 60 voucher adverts by the burgeoning industry of websites offering alluring discounts on goods and services stretching from meals out to fish-based pedicures.
WOMEN CLIMB THE FIRST RUNG OF THE LADDER TOWARDS EQUAL PAY
Female executives are earning more money than their male counterparts for the first time — but only on the lowest rung of the corporate ladder. Stats compiled by the CMI show that women at the junior executive level earned an average of £21,969 last year, about £600 more than the average man in a similar position.
The Daily Telegraph
MAGNATE BYRNE EYES OMEGA
An investment group led by the son of US insurance magnate Jack Byrne has emerged as the frontrunner to buy Omega Insurance Holdings, the Lloyd’s of London underwriter. Mark Byrne, who is close to legendary investor Warren Buffett, is in pole position to buy Omega for around £200m following an auction of the business that started earlier this year.
BORROWERS TOLD TO CUT BACK
Around 30,000 low-income homeowners will be told to cut spending on Sky TV, trips to the pub and mobile phone bills or face losing their houses when interest rates rise. The warning will come from the state-owned bank charged with recovering the government’s £48nn investment in Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock, the mortgage lenders which were nationalised during the credit crisis.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
POLICE REVIEW OLYMPICS SECURITY
UK authorities are reviewing security plans for next summer’s Olympic Games, including staffing levels and intelligence gathering, in the wake of recent riots. Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison said in an interview that authorities are studying the recent riots that rocked London and other U.K. cities to see whether they should deploy additional police resources.
NORWAY’S OIL CHIEF TO VISIT CHINA
Norway plans to send its oil minister to China, a sign relations could be thawing after last year’s Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo threw talks on a free-trade accord into a deep freeze. Norwegian energy minister Ola Borten Moe’s visit to Beijing in September will be the be the first by a Norwegian minister to China since October.