Wednesday newspaper round-up: ATMs, corruption, RBS

25th Jan 2017 07:20

(ShareCast News) - Last-ditch proposals to overhaul the way the Link cash machine network operates have been tabled in a bid to avert charges for bank customers withdrawing money at thousands of ATMs. A number of ideas have been put forward in an effort to head off a breakup of the 70,000-strong network amid fears that if banks and building societies drop Link, thousands more machines could be forced to charge for withdrawals. - GuardianThe price of some toys could rise by up to 15% as a result of the plunging pound, manufacturers have warned. Lego and the producer of Peppa Pig merchandise are among the companies to have announced price rises recently. Natasha Crookes, spokeswoman for the British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA), said most UK toy makers, who typically design products in Britain but have them manufactured and imported from east Asia, had managed to contain price rises until now. - GuardianBusinesses across the EU are reeling from the "shockwaves" sent by Theresa May when she announced the UK will leave the single market, the CBI's director general has warned. Carolyn Fairbairn told an audience of French businesses in London that they should unite with British companies to stand up for continued links with the EU post-Brexit. - TelegraphThe world is becoming a more corrupt place but the UK remains one of the "cleanest" nations, despite last week's record-breaking fine for Rolls-Royce after it admitted bribery spanning decades. Britain has been ranked the 10th most honest nation by watchdog Transparency International, which conducts an annual survey analysing corruption levels worldwide. - TelegraphServices associated with clearing euro-denominated securities will be forced to leave London, costing the City up to 85,000 jobs as a result of Brexit, a former head of the Swiss central bank has warned. Philipp Hildebrand, chairman of the Swiss National Bank from January 2010 to January 2012, told a conference in Dublin yesterday that it was "very clear" that core financial functions such as clearing would leave London once the UK withdrew from the European Union. - The TimesRoyal Bank of Scotland mistreated businesses because it was rushing to meet the terms of its taxpayer bailout in 2008, a claim lodged in the High Court has alleged. Stuart Wall is suing RBS for up to £400 million, alleging that the bank's Global Restructuring Group caused the demise of his Opal Property Group, which collapsed into administration in 2013. - The Times