Monday newspaper round-up: RBS, Banks, Greece

12th Apr 2010 06:11

Royal Bank of Scotland has said that it may extend its loans to Liverpool to help the club's unpopular American owners to sell it. It emerged over the weekend that Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr have abandoned plans to sell a minority stake to Rhône Capital, an American private-equity firm, instead appointing Barclays Capital to sell the club completely, says the Times.The Telegraph added that Martin Broughton, the chairman of British Airways, has been parachuted in to help with the sale of Liverpool Football Club. The City grandee has been appointed chairman of the embattled club with the task of finding a buyer. A Conservative government plans to rush through a competition inquiry into concentration in the British banking sector, paving the way for the possible initial sale of stakes in the state-owned banks next year, writes the FT.Eurozone members have made a commitment to providing up to €30bn in loans to Greece over the next year to help stave off a debt crisis that has roiled financial markets and posed the most serious challenge to the euro in its history, reports the FT.The Liberal Democrats would be willing to increase the takeover timetable of listed companies from 60 to 90 days in exchange for massive reform, according to the Independent.US financial groups face high investor expectations for strong earnings growth in their first-quarter results in spite of subdued markets for equity trading and investment banking in the first three months of 2010, says the FT.Barclays' investment banking arm has signed a deal that will allow retail investors better access to companies floating on the stock market. Barclays Capital has formed a joint venture with retail share-offering consultancy Solid Solutions Associates, writes the Independent.A group of leading City bosses has attacked Labour's plans for a "Cadbury's Law" to protect UK companies from foreign takeovers as unworkable, costly and a threat to Britain's standing as a global financial centre. The City figures, which include fund managers that together control more than 6pc of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, have told theTelegraph that the proposals, due to be unveiled today in Labour's election manifesto, risk damaging industry, the economy and pension fund returns.The Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA), which runs the largest fresh-produce market in the UK, is understood to have called in advisers to help find a private-sector partner for the £1bn scheme to redevelop its 57-acre site, reports the Independent.Members of one of Britain's richest families have been found guilty of breaching charity law over donations of almost £1 million to the Conservative Party. The Weston family controls a string of businesses, from Primark to Fortnum & Mason, through a charitable trust, according to the Times.The value of British exports rose just £28m year on year, or 0.05 per cent, in the final three months of 2009 despite "the competitiveness of sterling against other major currencies", says the Independent.