Thursday newspaper round-up: Citigroup, HSBC, RBS

10th Dec 2009 06:10

Citigroup is in advanced talks with regulators over plans to raise more than $15bn in an equity offering, in an effort to repay $20bn in bail-out funds as early as Thursday. People close to the situation said that Citi was also planning to raise around $2bn of mandatory convertible securities - a new form of security that converts into equity when a bank's capital ratio falls below a predetermined level, says the FT.HSBC is closing in on acquiring the remaining Asian retail and commercial assets being divested by RBS. People familiar with the matter said that the sides had struck a deal for the assets in China, India and Malaysia but that it was subject to regulatory approval in the three countries, writes the FT.Royal Bank of Scotland has sent out sales documents for RBS Sempra Commodities, its American joint venture, and hopes to sell the energy trading business within the next few months, reports the Times.About 20,000 bankers are expected to be snared by the Government's super-tax on bank bonuses announced in the pre-Budget report, the Telegraph has learned.The Times adds that the Chancellor was accused of going soft on the City by producing a tax on bonuses that would be easy to avoid and which exempts, among others, former Lehman Brothers staff blamed for the financial crisis.India's stock market regulator has suspended Barclays from dealing in notes that enable off-shore investors to trade Indian stocks. The regulator alleged that Barclays had given it false information on clients that had bought shares of Reliance Communications, the mobile operator controlled by Indian billionaire Anil Ambani, through offshore derivatives known as participatory notes, says the FT.The Chancellor has made a "serious mistake" by increasing National Insurance and risks damaging an economic recovery, according to business leaders. Richard Lambert, the director-general of the CBI, said that increasing National Insurance contributions by 0.5pc from April 2011 could "hold back jobs creation and growth", writes the Telegraph.A litany of organisational failures compounded by outdated systems means that HM Revenue & Customs will fail to collect £11.2 billion in taxes. A report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee, that will be published today, shows that 40 per cent of £27.7 billion of the tax that was uncollected by March 31 is unlikely ever to reach the public purse, reports the Times.