Wednesday newspaper round-up: Greece, Iran, HBOS, SNB

4th Jan 2012 06:49

Around one million Britons have taken out a payday loan to pay their mortgage or rent over the last 12 months, a survey reveals. It highlights the financial squeeze facing workers who are being pushed over the edge by soaring household bills, rising taxes and paltry pay rises, or pay freezes. The report, from the homeless charity Shelter, said a further six million people are being plunged into debt in other ways in order to pay these essential bills. They are using unauthorised overdrafts, personal loans or credit cards to pay their housing costs - rather than face being evicted from their home. Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: 'These shocking findings show the extent to which millions of households are struggling to keep their home,' The Daily Mail reports. As European bond markets strained ahead of a vital round of debt auctions, Pantelis Kapsis, a Greek government spokesman, said: "The bail-out agreement needs to be signed otherwise we will be out of the markets, out of the euro. The situation will be much worse." Greece is struggling to push through tough austerity measures needed to secure the second bail-out. International officials are preparing to conduct a financial inspection in Athens that will decide the terms of the rescue package that was agreed in principle in October. Greece is also racing to clinch a deal with the private holders of its sovereign bonds. Both deals have to be secured if Greece is to avoid defaulting at a major bond redemption in March, The Telegraph writes. The Governor of Switzerland's central bank is under pressure to explain why his wife transferred $500,000 of Swiss currency into US dollars shortly before authorities intervened to cap the value of the soaraway franc. In a scandal gripping Switzerland's political and financial elite, an anonymous whistleblower has flouted the strict code of banking privacy by leaking details of transactions by Kashya Hildebrand, wife of the Swiss National Bank's chief Philipp Hildebrand. Mrs Hildebrand, who runs an art gallery in Zurich, bought half a million dollars on August 15, three weeks before the Swiss National Bank plunged into the currency markets to put a cap on the value of the "Swissie", The Times reports.Paul Walsh, the long-serving chief executive of Diageo, has moved into the satellite industry after being appointed as a non-executive director of Avanti Communications, adding heavyweight City experience to the board. Shares in Avanti, which provides broadband access via satellite, hit a peak of 728p in December 2010 but the company's market value has drifted to £250m, despite it winning a host of contracts. The appointment of Mr Walsh, who has run the drinks group since 2000, was seen by analysts as a potential move to strengthen the company's relationship with the City. The share price rose by 4%, or 11p, to 301p. Mr Walsh is also viewed by analysts as an ideal candidate to become Avanti's next chairman, according to The Times. European Union officials are rigorously examining Hungary's new central bank law to see if it breaches the country's treaty obligations. The law, which was passed on Friday, alters the make-up of the central bank's management and potentially opens to the door to political control, which is strictly prohibited under European rules. The law provides for the expansion of the Monetary Council, which sets interest rates, and for the appointment of a third vice-governor. A separate piece of legislation allows for a future merger of the central bank with the state financial regulator and the demotion of the bank's president, The Times says. Iran's threat to cut off access to the Strait of Hormuz - through which 40% of the world's oil is shipped - has provoked an angry rebuke from the US, which has the Fifth Fleet nearby. Today, French foreign minister Alain Juppe supported the American hard line with Tehran, and urged European leaders to impose an embargo on Iranian oil exports and freeze Iranian central bank assets by the end of this month. Currently, Italy imports 13.3% of its oil from Iran, Spain 9.6%, Greece 34.7% and France 4.4%. Roy Jordan, of FACTS Global Energy, said: "If supply through the Strait of Hormuz is cut off, just about everybody in the East and West would be in trouble. It would disrupt major proportion of the world's oil and gas at a time when many of the world's economies are very fragile and would not be able to sustain a serious oil spike," The Telegraph reports. A public report into the collapse of HBOS is unlikely to be published for at least another year, despite mounting calls for a full account of its downfall. The Financial Services Authority has been investigating the failure of HBOS for almost three years but it is understood that its probe is not yet complete and that it has not even begun work on a report. Sources say progress is being held up because Peter Cummings, the former top corporate banker at HBOS, is embroiled in lengthy legal wrangling with the regulator, says The Daily mail. AB