Thursday newspaper round-up: Greece, Santander, UK banks

21st Jul 2011 06:27

Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy held crisis talks in Berlin amid warnings that a failure to break the debt crisis deadlock within 24 hours would send shockwaves around the global economy. Late on Wednesday night it was announced that both parties were close to a deal to bail out Greece, the Telegraph reports.Santander's planned part-flotation of its UK business is set to be delayed until next year because of uncertainty created by the Independent Commission on Banking's (ICB) reform proposals and volatile markets. The Spanish bank was planning to sell 20 per cent of the business to investors in the fourth quarter of this year in a transaction that could value it at £20bn but the initial public offering (IPO) is now likely to be shelved until the first half of 2012, the Independent reports.The UK banking sector is gearing up for a collision with Europe's top financial regulator after it set out harsh new rules for the industry that could see banks fined as much as 10% of their entire annual turnover if they don't comply. Banks will be forced to hold more capital of a higher quality as part of the package of reforms, which will hand the EU sweeping powers to intervene in the financial system to prevent a future crisis, according to the Telegraph.The telecoms watchdog has ordered BT to slash its charges to rivals to help bring cheaper broadband to millions of homes in rural parts of Britain. Ofcom yesterday revealed it called on BT's wholesale arm to reduce its charges to internet service providers, such as Sky and TalkTalk, using its network to serve customers in the countryside, the Independent reports.Blackstone has agreed to take over outdoor clothing company Jack Wolfskin in a €700m ($995m) deal that underlined the rapid transformation of the sector from local businesses to international brands. The US buy-out group will announce on Thursday that it will acquire the German company from Barclays Private Equity and Quadriga Capital, people close to the situation said, according to the Financial Times.Danielle Chiesi, the former beauty queen turned stock trader, has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail for her role in the biggest insider-dealing case in decades. Chiesi, 45, was the former confidante of hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon hedge fund, the Guardian reports.Helen Milligan, the Apprentice runner-up, who went on sabbatical from her job to appear on the entrepreneurial show, has now risen through the ranks of Greggs. She will now be head of retail in the South East for Greggs; running 200 shops and in charge of 2,300 staff, the Daily Mail reports.Google is to face a storm of fury for tax avoidance after it emerged its UK arm paid only £1.3m in taxes last year while its parent company racked up enormous profits. Companies House accounts for Google UK showed the firm saw pre-tax losses double to £22m on turnover up from £170mto £240m for the year to December, the Daily Express reports.