Tuesday newspaper round-up: Tesco, BHP Billiton, Twitter...

5th Oct 2010 06:38

About half of the eight million mortgages approved in the past five years would have been banned under the tougher affordability rules proposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), a study suggests.Research published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) will also say that 3.8m of those loans have "performed" throughout the financial crisis and recession, with just 200,000 having defaulted, the Independent reports.Tesco is unlikely to meet its target of opening a mortgage lending business this year with the supermarket still awaiting Financial Services Authority approval. Gaining approval could take a further 12 months, according to a report yesterday, in a delay that would be a blow to the Government which is trying to encourage new entrants into the banking market, the Telegraph reports.BHP Billiton's $39bn (£24.5bn) hostile bid for PotashCorp of Saskatchewan took another twist yesterday when an influential body investigating the economic implications of any takeover said that an agreement with the mining giant would be more beneficial to the province than a deal with rival suitor, China's Sinochem, the Independent reports.Twitter and Skype, two of the fastest-growing private internet companies, have appointed new chief executives as they look to reinforce their leadership ranks with more experienced business managers.Dick Costolo, who has won recognition in Silicon Valley for bringing a sharper business focus to Twitter since joining as chief operating officer a year ago, was named chief executive on Monday. He succeeds Evan Williams, a founder of the micro-blogging service, who said he would now focus all his attention instead on product development. Meanwhile, Skype has hired Tony Bates, formerly a rising star at Cisco Systems, as its new chief executive, the FT reports.The prospect of a second round of bailouts for the UK's banks has been dismissed by Chancellor George Osborne and the industry's main trade body. Responding to a report from the New Economics Foundation (NEF), Mr Osborne said he saw "no indication" of a need for new capital injections to support the British banking sector. Mr Osborne's remarks were supported by the British Bankers' Association, which said UK banks were "well placed to weather any financial problems that may arise in the future, the Telegraph reports.The City will pay bonuses totalling nearly £7bn this year but, for the first time, the taxman will be taking a greater share of the bonuses than bankers, brokers and traders. The latest forecasts from the Centre for Economic and Business Research show that recent Treasury revisions indicate that banks and City firms will be paying a total of £6.99bn this year in bonuses, the Times reports. The world's major economic powers must do more to head off the prospect of a global currency war, a body representing the world's financial institutions has warned. The call from the Institute of International Finance (IIF) comes as finance ministers and central bankers prepare to descend on Washington DC for the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund against a backdrop of rising tensions over foreign-exchange policy, the Telegraph reports.Swingeing cuts mean that Ireland's economy will barely grow this year, the Republic's central bank said. Ireland's GDP will expand 0.2 per cent this year instead of the 0.8% forecast in July. The central bank also lowered its growth forecasts for next year to 2.4% from 2.8%, the Times reports.Alliance Boots will shed 900 workers in a cost-cutting programme that will eliminate one in ten non-retail jobs at the high street chemist. The private equity-backed health and beauty chain and pharmaceuticals distributor said that the restructuring would save £56m a year. Most of the jobs to go will be at its Nottingham headquarters, but staff at its West London site will also be affected, the Times reports.