Thursday newspaper round-up: HSBC, Barclays, Morrison

28th Jan 2010 05:58

Alistair Darling is to meet the chiefs of top British and American banks at a secret meeting in Davos tomorrow to hear their concerns about the introduction of tough new sanctions against the banking sector.The Times has learnt that the bosses of HSBC, Barclays and Standard Chartered, and top executives from key American banks, including JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, will try to persuade the Chancellor that any moves to curtail the banks will have unforeseen repercussions for the global economy.Wm Morrison has tapped a relative unknown in the UK retailing industry as its new chief executive. The supermarket chain said Dalton Philips, an Irishman who was chief operating officer of Canadian retailer Loblaw, would replace Marc Bolland, writes the FT.President Barack Obama and his fellow world leaders may find it increasingly difficult to source finance in the capital markets if they insist on splitting up banks that are "too big to fail", Barclays president Bob Diamond has warned, according to the Telegraph.Britain's top financial regulator called on Wednesday for authorities to be given fresh powers to control availability of credit to prevent asset price bubbles. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Lord Turner, who chairs the UK's Financial Services Authority, warned that the world must return to the idea that authorities can limit credit before it becomes too dangerous, says the FT.British Sky Broadcasting is claiming a world first in 3D television with its live broadcast this weekend of a football match in selected pubs around the UK. Sky will today announce that its 3D TV service will be available to subscribers from April, showing live Premier League football every week. The satellite broadcaster hopes that screenings in pubs will help publicise the service, writes the FT.The Federal Reserve had no choice but to pay off AIG's trading parties, including Goldman Sachs and other major banks, because any attempts to negotiate a better deal for taxpayers could have triggered a new financial panic, the US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner insisted under questioning from Congress yesterday, according to the Independent.President Obama declared that creating jobs would be his "number one focus" this year, delivering a rousing inaugural State of the Union address on Wednesday night in which he pledged to right the economy and continue pushing for healthcare and financial sector reform, says the FT.The Telegraph adds that Obama is to attempt to revive America's small business sector with an array of measures designed to stimulate one of the most active parts of the US economy.After all the hype, Steve Jobs, the Apple chief executive, took to a stage in San Francisco yesterday to demonstrate his latest toy. Among his disciples, the thin, sleek iPad was greeted with applause and cheers, writes the Times.Britain should avoid a dreaded "double-dip" recession but fears over inflation remain, Bank of England rate-setter Andrew Sentance said today. Sentance, a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member, said the weaker pound and a "reasonably robust" world economy should offset the impact of a struggling banking sector and looming action to tackle the UK budget deficit, according to the Telegraph.A member of the Federal Reserve's interest rate-setting committee broke ranks for the first time and argued that the US central bank should end its commitment to keeping rates at rock-bottom levels for an extended period of time. Thomas Hoenig, the head of the Kansas City branch of the Fed, dissented to the continuing use of doveish language, in what financial markets took as a sign that rates could begin to rise earlier than previously thought, says the Independent.