Monday newspaper round-up: Banker bonuses, Phones 4U, Belgium

17th Nov 2014 07:28

Banker bonuses tied to corporate takeovers could be banned to prevent them getting in the way of working in a company's best interests. The shadow business secretary wants "huge success payments" linked to big-ticket takeovers of British companies to be looked at in more detail, as well as calling for greater restrictions on "carpetbaggers and speculators". "We need greater transparency on the way people who advise on these transactions are rewarded," Chuka Umunna said. - The TimesThe taxpayer stands to lose £78m from the controversial demise of Phones 4U, new documents show. The high street retailer owed £69.2m in VAT and £8.8m in corporation tax when it collapsed in September, and administrators have warned they are only likely to recover a tiny fraction of the debt. The debts to HMRC are part of £168m owed to unsecured creditors by Phones 4U. Less than 0.4% of this will be repaid - the equivalent of £672,000 - according to PwC, the administrators. - The Daily TelegraphBelgium is creeping back onto the Eurozone's danger list as economic woes spread deeper into the EMU-core, and protracted slump poisons debt dynamics. Fitch Ratings has issued a downgrade alert, warning that the country's primary budget surplus is evaporating. It said public debt will reach 106.9% of GDP next year. New accounting rules known as ESA2010 have revealed that Belgium is poorer than previously thought, lifting the debt ratio by 3.3% of GDP overnight. - The Daily TelegraphThe number of homes being marketed by estate agents has plunged to a record low. The number of houses for sale per estate agency branch has dropped to an average of 60 - the lowest level recorded at this time of year. Rightmove, the property website, said that new home listings in the month to November 14 were down by 15% compared with the previous month. The average asking price of a home coming to the market has dropped by £4,542 in a month and could fall further in the winter. - The TimesDavid Cameron has issued a stark message that "red warning lights are flashing on the dashboard of the global economy" in the same way as when the financial crash brought the world to its knees six years ago. Writing in the Guardian at the close of the G20 summit in Brisbane, Cameron says there is now "a dangerous backdrop of instability and uncertainty" that presents a real risk to the UK recovery, adding that the eurozone slowdown is already having an impact on British exports and manufacturing. - The GuardianRoyal Bank of Scotland is at the centre of a fresh pay row after it emerged it had handed £1m in shares to Stephen Hester, who was in charge of the bank when traders there helped to rig foreign exchange markets. The anger over Hester's award comes alongside a report from an influential group of MPs and lords on Monday calling on regulators to step up work to overhaul the banking sector after the foreign exchange scandal "exposed how much work there is still to do". - The Guardian