WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
FLOWERS LEAVES US FOR LONDON BERTH
Christopher Flowers, the veteran private equity investor, has moved to London from the US, seeing a shift in the balance of investment opportunities to Europe.
BANKS TAKE PPI PROVISIONS PAST £6BN
Three of the UK’s biggest banks are braced to increase their provisions for mis-sold loan insurance by as much as a third following a sharp rise in the number of complaints received in recent weeks. Lenders have been battling to deal with a surge of compensation requests from customers with payment protection insurance (PPI), largely prompted by increased activity from claims management companies.
GE SUFFERS ACTIVIST SHAREHOLDER REVOLT
Shareholders in General Electric have come close to winning a vote that would have given them more direct control over the the largest US industrial group by market capitalisation against the wishes of its board. A proposal at GE’s annual meeting in Detroit on Wednesday to allow shareholders to make decisions about the company “by written consent” won the support of some 47.5 per cent of the vote.
THE TIMES
GLOBAL BUILDER FINED $56M FOR SCAM
The construction company that built the athletes’ village for the London Olympics has pleaded guilty to fraud by overcharging for work on some of New York’s most famous landmarks, including Citi Field, home of the Mets baseball team.
MORE CUTS FOR POLICE
Police forces face having to make even deeper cuts in manpower and services after a Whitehall spending watchdog today highlights a £500 million shortfall in planned savings.
The Daily Telegraph
QATAR ROYALS BUY GREEK ISLAND FOR €5M
The 1,236-acre uninhabited island of Oxia in the Ionian Sea was bought for €5m (£4.1m) by the Qatari royal family. Previously owned by a Greek-Australian family, it had been on the market for close to €7m.
MOTHERCARE LOSES FINANCE DIRECTOR
Mothercare, the struggling retailer, has been hit by the departure of its finance director. Neil Harrington resigned from his role at the company to join an unnamed private equity firm, just days ahead of the arrival of new chief executive Simon Calver.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SEC QUESTIONED ABOUT TIPSTER POLICY
The SEC faced fresh questions about its efforts to attract whistleblowers who might help regulators uncover wrongdoing on Wall Street, following revelations that the agency unwittingly revealed a tipster’s identity during a probe.
BANKER PLEADS GUILTY IN BRIBERY CASE
An ex- head of Morgan Stanley’s real-estate investing operations in China pleaded guilty yesterday to violating a US anticorruption law in a case that involved alleged bribes to a Chinese official in exchange for business.