Sunday newspaper round-up: B&B, Northern Rock, recession

24th Jan 2010 12:04

The two British banks that were the first to fall under government control will this week move close to striking a controversial merger deal. Bradford & Bingley (B&B), which was part-nationalised in September 2008, is about to receive a green light from Brussels for the state-aid package it received from UK taxpayers. The European approval will clear the way for its disastrous buy-to-let mortgage book to be merged with the so-called "bad bank" at Northern Rock, says the Sunday Times.Britain's biggest banks are to announce profits of up to £25bn raising fresh fears of a public backlash against the sector that was propped up by billions of pounds of taxpayer money less than two years ago, reports the Sunday Telegraph.City economists expect figures published this week will confirm that Britain has pulled out of recession, with gross domestic product in the fourth quarter up by 0.3% on the previous three months, writes the Sunday Times.Goldman Sachs, the American investment bank, is capping the salary and bonus packages of its top London staff at £1m. Senior bankers and star traders will be given details of the clampdown later this week, according to the Sunday Times. Larry Page and Sergey Brin are dipping into the Google cash register for a little pocket money. The co-founders of the search engine leviathan each plan to sell five million shares over the next five years and at the current price they will have another $5.5bn (£3.4bn) or $2.75bn each in the bank by 2015, says the Sunday Telegraph.Alistair Darling warns today that President Barack Obama's proposals for shaking up the banks would not have prevented the crisis and risk undermining the international consensus on reforming the financial system. In an interview with The Sunday Times, the chancellor made clear that he saw serious shortcomings in the American approach.Luxury car-maker Mercedes-Benz faces huge embarrassment over a revolutionary new engine, with thousands of customers reporting that their vehicles have broken down, writes the Independent on Sunday.Manchester United's controversial bond issue has cost the Premier League football club £54m, it emerged this weekend, reports the Sunday Times.London bankers are marketing the flotation of Koza Gold in a move that could value the Turkish miningcompany at around $2bn, according to the Independent on Sunday.The newspaper veteran David Montgomery, chief executive of Mecom, is facing a shareholder rebellion that could lead to him being removed from his European publishing empire, says the Sunday Times.Elias Elia, the man behind E-Clear, the failed credit card company that brought down Scotland's biggest airline, Globespan, is set to have his personal assets frozen as administrators to the company try to account for a hole in its finances said to be worth up to a £100m, reports the Independent on Sunday.Betfair, the online gaming exchange, has selected two investment banks to advise it on a £1.5 billion stock-market flotation, writes the Sunday Times.Vatukoula is expected to announce a bumper find of gold tomorrow. The miner, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market, wants to expand its main asset, the Fijian mine of the same name that produces 40,000 ounces a year. Its chief executive, David Paxton, is expected to tell the market the company drilled 10 holes in the area, all striking gold, according to the Independent on Sunday.Companies linked to Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz, the property entrepreneurs, have filed creditors' claims totalling £2.26bn against Kaupthing, despite being among the failed Icelandic bank's biggest borrowers, says the Sunday Telegraph.Regal Petroleum is expected to face shareholder challenges this week over its management rewards scheme. Several investors told The Independent on Sunday that they will question the "Long-term incentive plan" (Ltip), which led to a paper gain last week of close to £600,000 forDavid Greer, the chief executive of the London-listed oil and gas explorer, writes the Independent on Sunday.City brokers, often dubbed the backbone of the Square Mile, could soon have to put more capital aside as regulators look to tighten rules regarding capital adequacy, reports the Independent on Sunday.