Friday newspaper round-up: Scrappage scheme, Northern Rock, UBS,

21st Aug 2009 06:19

The US cash-for-clunkers car scrappage scheme has become a victim of its own success, with the government announcing that the incentives will come to an end on Monday evening, just a month after they were introduced, says the FT.Private investors who bought permanent interest-bearing shares or Pibs in Northern Rock when the state-owned bank was a building society have seen their investments lose 80pc of their value following the Rock's decision to suspend interest payments, writes the Telegraph.The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), London's futures marketplace, has agreed to hand the US regulator audit-trail data for all contracts it offers that are tied to New York trades. The US regulator, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), has been investigating whether speculation has been causing oil price volatility in recent years. It secured position limits and extra data on the size of large London trades linked to the US in June last year, reports the Telegraph.The US on Thursday indicted a former senior UBS banker and a Swiss lawyer for allegedly helping wealthy Americans hide assets in secret accounts, as Washington broadened its crackdown on offshore tax evasion, says the FT.Many of the four million homeowners who took out interest-only mortgages are facing a crisis because they have no way of repaying their home loans. Figures from the Financial Services Authority, which has regulated mortgages since 2004, show that 38 per cent of Britain's 11.1 million homeowners ? or more than one in three ? may have made inadequate provision to pay off their capital sum, according to the Times.A widely promoted government scheme offering up to £5bn to help protect suppliers from the collapse of their customers has so far provided only £7m of assistance to 52 companies. Announced in the Budget, the government's trade credit insurance top-up scheme was designed to shore up the market as nervous private sector insurers cut their exposure during the credit crisis, says the FT.The ailing camera retailer Jessops has hired a new chief executive for its retail business, in a move that is likely to assuage fears over its short-term future. Jessops confirmed the appointment of Trevor Moore, a former operations director at Coffee Republic, who will assume responsibility for its store operations from September. It is understood that Mr Moore will not sit on the main board of Jessops, writes the Independent.Banks that do not settle currency trades through a central system could be shut out of dealing at the best prices, according to one of the biggest foreign exchange banks. Zar Amrolia, global head of FX at Deutsche Bank, one of the three biggest foreign exchange banks, said a two-tier system could become a reality as banks reassess their risks in the wake of the credit crunch, reports the FT.Britain's big energy companies are forcing as many as 250,000 small businesses to pay for their energy up to seven months in advance, it has emerged. Alistair Buchanan, chief executive of Ofgem, the energy regulator, called the companies ? including Scottish Power, British Gas, EDF Energy, E.ON, RWE npower and SSE ? to a meeting in London last week to express mounting concern about the practice, which it is feared could put companies into real difficulty, according to the Times.Defence barristers face swingeing cuts of up to 25 per cent in their fees under government moves to freeze the £2 billion annual legal aid bill. Payments for some expert witnesses giving their opinions in cases will also fall by up to 20 per cent in an attempt to reduce a £192 million-a-year bill, says the Times.