WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
THE SUNDAYS
The Sunday Telegraph
G20 WILL CURB BANK BONUSES
Bonuses for bankers throughout the Western world will for the first time be subject to limits and checks as soon as next year after the G20 pledged to embark on an international crackdown on financiers’ pay. Banks will have caps imposed on the size of the bonus pot they can award to their staff under new rules set out yesterday by finance ministers.
LIVE TV GAMBLING AS FIVE SIGNS DEAL WITH NETPLAY
TV executives are to allow live interactive gambling on terrestrial TV in a bid to increase revenue in the face of low advertising income. Viewers of broadcaster Five will be able to bet on roulette from the comfort of their sofa after the broadcaster signed a landmark deal with NetPlay, the interactive gambling group.
THE SUNDAY TIMES
THE INDEPENDENT IN TALKS WITH AXEL SPRINGER AMID ANTHONY O’REILLY ROW
The struggling newspaper publisher behind The Independent and Independent on Sunday has held talks with Axel Springer in recent weeks to see if the German media giant could become its largest shareholder.
HOW SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION MISSED BERNARD MADOFF’S FRAUD
An official at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who is married to Bernard Madoff’s niece blamed carelessness for the regulator’s failure to stop the fraudster, according to a 457-report released late on Friday. Eric Swanson, an SEC lawyer, was part of a team that found problems in Madoff’s business in 2003-4.
TODAY
FINANCIAL TIMES
GOOGLE GIVES GROUND IN DIGITAL BOOKS DISPUTE
Google is to make concessions to European publishers and authors in an effort to stem anger over its landmark digital books settlement in the US. The firm has agreed to have two non-US representatives on the governing board of the registry that will administer the settlement, according to a letter sent to 16 European Union publishers’ representatives.
BarCap eyes tie-ups to buy resource assets
Barclays Capital is planning to team up with sovereign wealth funds to buy natural resources assets including mines, oilfields and power plants.
The move is a sign of appetite for physical commodities at a time when prices have started rising again after falls last year.
The Daily Telegraph
GOVERNMENT TO CUT UK DEFENCE RESEARCH BUDGET BY £100M
The government will cut the defence research budget by £100m next year as it seeks to cut costs despite the escalating conflict in Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence will make £439m available for its science, innovation and technology budget in 2010-11, almost 20per cent less than the £544m set aside for this year.
CHINA ALARMED BY US MONEY PRINTING
The US Federal Reserve’s policy of printing money to buy Treasury debt threatens to set off a serious decline of the dollar and compel China to redesign its foreign reserve policy, according to a top member of the Communist hierarchy. Cheng Siwei, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee, said Beijing was dismayed by the Fed’s use of “credit easing”.
THE TIMES
LATE PAYERS PUT SQUEEZE ON E.ON’S PROFITABILITY
One of Britain’s biggest energy suppliers is facing a mountain of bad debt as its industrial customers put off paying bills to solve cashflow problems. E.ON said that bad debts in the UK were running at the level of “hundreds of millions of pounds”, a burden that the utility argues must be considered by Ofgem in its investigation into retail energy pricing.
FRANCE’S INVESTMENT BANKS AT RISK FROM BONUS CAPS
The future of French investment banking was last night under threat after Paris refused to back down over bonus caps. At the G20 meetings in London, finance ministers and central bankers agreed on guidelines for the payment of bonuses, but stayed short of imposing a limit on how much an individual can be paid.