Tuesday newspaper round-up: RBS, FCA, British Gas

22nd Sep 2015 05:56

(ShareCast News) - UK Financial Investments, the body charged with managing the state's holdings in RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, has been ordered by the Treasury select committee to explain why the government needed to commission a separate report into the sale from Rothschild, despite having an in-house advisory team. - The TimesBankers, lawyers and regulators have been hired to join the City watchdog's enforcement panel, the influential body that oversees the punishments handed out to wrongdoers. Two members of the Regulatory Decisions Committee are retiring, but six will join the panel at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), bolstering the increasingly busy enforcement unit. Five of those members are also joining the Payments Systems Regulator's (PSR) enforcement panel. - The Daily TelegraphA software company that has accused British Gas of stealing its smart metering technology is mounting an £80m legal challenge against the energy supplier for lost earnings. The lawsuit, which alleges that British Gas violated patent laws by illegally installing metering software in nearly two million British homes without a commercial licence, is scheduled to begin at the High Court next year. - The TimesUp to 400 jobs are at risk at JCB, after a 70% slump in demand for its diggers and other machinery in Russia was echoed across the world. The business, which has 11 sites across the UK, with the majority in Staffordshire, revealed that all regions had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. As well as the loss of demand in Russia, the firm said it has seen a 36% drop in orders from Brazil and 47% from China, as well as a 26% fall in demand from France.- The Daily TelegraphThe most senior voice of British business has blasted the government's performance on the "green economy". Cridland will tell a major business conference on climate change on Tuesday: "Today's investors are more uncertain about the UK's low-carbon future. From the roll-back of renewables to the mixed messages on energy efficiency, these changes [by the government since coming to power] send a worrying signal about the UK as a place for low-carbon investment." - The GuardianGetting a legal high has become seriously big business in the American state of Colorado - and the dope-driven tax dollars are pouring in even though the price of drugs "on the street" has halved in less than two years . Intense competition since marijuana sales were legalised in January last year has meant that the price of an eighth of an ounce has slid from $70 to $30. - The Times