Tuesday newspaper round-up: Banks, HSBC, Ocado...

25th Jan 2011 06:38

Banks are planning to offer to make it much easier for customers to switch accounts in an attempt to head off more draconian measures from the Government to boost competition.The big lenders are considering investing hundreds of millions of pounds each to bring in measures that would cut the time it takes customers to switch banks to between one and two weeks. Some believe that the Dutch system of switching most accounts within seven days could be introduced within two years, at a cost of about £2bn to the industry, the Times reports.HSBC's new chief executive has dropped plans to relocate to Hong Kong, choosing to remain in London. The decision will mean that Stuart Gulliver, who for years has been one of Britain's best paid bankers, will continue to pay UK income tax, unlike his predecessor Michael Geoghegan, who moved the CEO's office to Hong Kong in 2009, the FT reports.Shares in Ocado touched a new high of 246p as bid speculation continued to swirl around the internet grocer. The stock closed up 5% after it was linked to a possible bid from supermarket Morrisons, which has ambitions to launch its own internet grocery delivery service. Talk that Morrisons could be interested in Ocado first surfaced in November, the Guardian reports.Marc Bolland is poised to take the next steps in implementing his strategic blueprint for Marks and Spencer with a shake-up of way the retailer's clothing business is organised. The chief executive of M&S, who set out his strategic vision in November, wants to see the retailer's clothing arm organised more around its in-house brands, the bulk of which he kept as part of his plans for the group, the FT reports.The head of the Financial Services Authority has called for a "radical rethink" of consumer protection in the UK, including the possible imposition of fee caps and bans on some retail financial products. The regulator has historically adopted a "light touch" approach for the regulation of financial products, emphasising full disclosure, but the financial crisis and a series of mis-selling scandals have forced politicians and regulators to reconsider, the FT reports.Ireland's embattled Government will hold crisis talks with the opposition parties later today to try and agree a timetable for approving vital budget legislation before an early general election. The opposition Fine Gael and Labour parties are threatening to table a motion of no confidence in the Government tomorrow unless it agrees to rush the legislation through the Dail by Friday, the Times reports.The brewing industry has blamed tumbling sales of beer in pubs last year on "huge" rises in taxes and urged the Government to abandon plans for further rises in this year's Budget. Total beer sales fell by 3.9% in 2010, driven by a 7.5% plunge in pub beer sales, according to the British Beer & Pub Association. The trade body said sales of beer in pubs had slumped by 20.2% in the past three years, citing a 26.1% hike in duty on beer since March 2008. But the off-trade sector performed far better last year, with shop sales actually rising by 0.6%, providing further evidence that the big supermarkets' discounting strategies are paying off, the Independent reports.Saudi Arabia has promised that oil cartel OPEC would boost oil supplies to meet demand and maintain healthy spare capacity as rising prices continued to send alarm around the world. Ali al-Naimi, the kingdom's oil and energy minister, quoted studies showing world oil demand would grow by 1.5m to 1.8m barrels of oil per day this year, or around 2%, the Telegraph reports.George Osborne may have a Budget war chest of £1bn to reprieve endangered programmes and promote growth as the Government begins to feel the full force of criticism at the speed and manner of the spending cuts. Conservative MPs believe that the Chancellor may have £5bn or more in his coffers for March, which would trigger a battle over how to spend any unexpected windfall, the Times reports.Spain has set in motion a partial nationalisation of its crippled savings banks, or cajas, but stopped short of the giant rescue deemed necessary by some experts to contain the country's festering crisis. Finance minister Elena Salgado said capital injections into the cajas would "in no way exceed €20bn [£17bn]", with a large part coming from the private sector. Spanish banks will have to boost their core Tier 1 capital ratio to 8%, even stricter than the Basel III rules, the Telegraph reports.The activist shareholder fighting for boardroom control at F&C Asset Management has won influential external backing. Institutional Shareholder Services, previously RiskMetrics, urged F&C's owners to vote for Ed Bramson as chairman at a special meeting next month. It has also supported the call by Sherborne, Mr Bramson's activist fund that owns 17 per cent of F&C, for a further change at the top, the Times reports.