Tuesday newspaper round-up: Verizon-AOL, RBS, Tesco...

6th Jan 2015 06:43

Verizon Communications is in talks with AOL about a possible deal to take over the latter or set up a joint venture, The Telegraph said, citing reports. It is thought that Verizon wants to use AOL to expand its mobile video operations.RBS' deputy chief executive Chris Sullivan has left the bank "several months earlier than expected", writes the Financial Times. The departure comes after his evidence to a parliamentary committee was critiscised by MPs.Tesco's pension scheme, one of the last defined-benefit pension schemes in the private sector, is at risk because of the struggles facing the supermarket group, according to The Telegraph. The paper said that new boss Dave Lewis is considering closing the scheme to new members.Bank Fashion has become the first high street casualty of 2015 after announcing that it has gone it into administration, reports The Scotsman. The move has put more than 1,500 jobs at risk after it was determined that a solvent turnaround would not be possible.The National Association of Estate Agents has predicted that the gap between supply and demand for housing could widen further this year, writes The Times."A crackdown on corruption in China has hit sales of Rolls-Royce cars, taking the shine off otherwise record numbers from one of Britain's great export success stories," The Times writes."The number of first-time buyers climbing on to the property ladder rose by more than a fifth last year to a seven-year high," says The Guardian. According to a Halifax review, the number of first-time buyers rose 22% to 326,500 in 2014.Banking group Lloyds is looking at an exemption to one of the key measures of the new ring fencing regime in the UK, writes the Financial Times. "Lloyds' 150-page submission will seek a waiver on the requirement for its ringfenced entity to have a different board of directors to that of its parent group, said two people familiar with the situation," the paper said.