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Alexander Lebedev, the owner of London's Evening Standard and a former lieutenant-colonel in the KGB, is in advanced talks to buy the The Independent and The Independent on Sunday, according to people familiar with the matter, reports the FT.Lebedev has held intermittent talks over the past year with publisher Independent News & Media to buy its UK national newspapers. However, plans were put on hold over the summer as INM started wrangling with its lenders about the restructuring of its €1.3bn (£1.2bn, $1.9bn) debt pileMeanwhile, the parent company of The Guardian newspaper is in talks to sell its regional titles to a rival publisher in a move that would sever its historic links with Manchester. Guardian Media Group (GMG) admitted yesterday that in the past few months, senior management have held "exploratory talks regarding our regional media business". The group is understood to have held talks with Trinity Mirror, which has about 240 regional titles, in a deal that could fetch up to £40m, reports the Independent.City analysts have warned that British Airways still faces a financial hit from the battle with its 13,500 cabin crew even though the threat of a 12-day Christmas strike has been averted. BA on Thursday won a court ruling forcing union Unite to hold another ballot before deciding whether to press ahead with a strike - a move that prevents any industrial action before the end of January, the Telegraph reports.Investment banks upset over the Government's attacks on City bonuses are holding up a £1bn fund for small business. Some high street banks are also stalling over claims that the fund is being created to boost Labour's chances at the next election. The tension between the banks and the Government over the Treasury's windfall tax on bonuses came to a head in the run-up to the Pre-Budget Report last week, the Times reports.Modest restraint by the banks during the boom years over bumper bonuses and dividends would have spared taxpayers the cost of recapitalising them during the financial crisis, the Bank of England says. It also highlights the fact that more than £1trn of funding will have to be found by lenders to finance their activities over the next few years, with no evidence that the Bank is enthusiastic about extending its current unprecedented support, reports the Independent.Meanwhile, a senior Bank of England official said that if some banks migrated overseas in response to tougher UK regulation "it might be a price worth paying" to protect the reform of the financial system in the wake of last year's crisis. The comments, made by Andy Haldane, the Bank's head of financial stability, in a BBC World Service interview to be broadcast on Friday, are certain to exacerbate tensions between the authorities and the financial sector, the Telegraph reports.A group of former Lehman Brothers employees working to wind-up the remnants of the collapsed investment bank are in line to share in a $50m (£31m) Christmas bonus pot. Approximately 230 bankers working to settle Lehman's $10bn-plus derivatives portfolio will share in the pay-out, after it was approved by a US bankruptcy judge, the Telegraph reports.Some of the City's most influential shareholders are demanding a competition inquiry into the fees charged by investment banks on takeover deals, The Times has learnt. Investors are preparing an assault on the "exorbitant" fees of advisers on both sides of company takeovers. Three leading institutional investors told The Times yesterday that they want Neelie Kroes, the European Competition Commissioner, to open an inquiry into fees charged by investment banks, particularly on M&A deals.EADS, Europe's aerospace and defence giant, won a significant victory last night when it was cleared ? along with 17 of its current and former executives ? of insider dealing charges by France's stock market watchdog. In a decision which came as a surprise to most French observers, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) brushed aside the recommendations of its examiner, who had demanded fines of €12.3m for insider trading, the Times reports. Branches of Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank could be merged with assets of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group in an attempt to create a new retail banking competitor in Britain. National Australia Bank (NAB), which owns Clydesdale and Yorkshire, said that it had been approached by industry players over potential consolidation involving both of the banks, the Times reports. The first of an expected series of top-level departures from ITV, Britain's largest broadcaster, began yesterday when Sir George Russell, its deputy chairman, stepped down. Archie Norman, the former Tory MP and Asda chief executive, arrives in the new year to take up the post of ITV chairman, replacing Michael Grade. He is being urged by investors to make changes to the board. However, it is understood that Sir George, aged 74, informed ITV of his decision to leave the £165,000-a-year post before Mr Norman's appointment was announced last month, the Times reports.Shareholders in Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) have been urged not to lend their holdings in the pub operator before a showdown vote on the election of four directors put forward by rebel investors. In what is thought to be an unprecedented joint statement, two leading shareholder bodies also called on their members to reclaim any M&B stock out on loan to hedge funds and other traders as soon as is practically possible, the Times reports.Citigroup tried to take control of EMI before Terra Firma, the music company's private equity owner, launched its legal attack against the bank, according to three people familiar with the negotiations. The stand-off began with a letter from Citigroup in September proposing a debt-for-equity swap that would have given the bank a majority of EMI's equity and given Terra Firma a share in the upside from restructuring the company, according to two of the people. The third person said the proposal offered Terra Firma a management fee, the FT reports.Mouchel's defence against a £380m ($613m) takeover approach from VT Group was bolstered on Thursday when its largest shareholder came out in support of the target's board. After holding a meeting with Mouchel's management, M&G Investment Management - which has an 11.4% stake - told the Financial Times that the maintenance group "enjoys our complete support", the FT reports.Clapham House, the restaurant operator, admitted yesterday that its Real Greek brand would eventually be sold as it moved to focus exclusively on its expanding Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) chain. The news comes after the sale last year of Bombay Bicycle Club, the group's chain of Indian eateries and takeaways, and its decision three months ago to put its loss-making Tootsies and Dexters business into administration after its failure to find a buyer, the Times reports.