HEADLINES IN BRIEF: RATE FIXING SCANDAL, CHINESE TRADE SURPLUS BOOST, BAILOUT FOR SPAIN, FNANCE INDUSTRY’S LOBBYING REVEALED, AND GROMIT NEARLY A CAT
…… RATE FIXING SCANDAL ….
THE SUN
LIBOR IS THE ‘TIP OF ICEBERG’
By Tom Newton Dunn, Political Editor
The rate-fixing scandal could be just the tip of the iceberg for City corruption, the Bank of England’s deputy boss said yesterday. Paul Tucker told MPs that greedy bankers may have been rigging the figures across dozens of other markets as well as the “cesspit” of LIBOR.
FINANCIAL TIMES
TUCKER DENIES INTERVENING ON LIBOR
By Chris Giles, Brooke Masters and Tom Burgis
Paul Tucker, deputy governor of the Bank of England, flatly denied that ministers, officials or the BoE had sanctioned the fixing of bank borrowing costs at the height of the financial crisis. Giving evidence to the Treasury select committee on Monday, Mr Tucker contradicted the chancellor’s allegations that the last Labour government had been “clearly involved” in the Libor scandal in a move that is unlikely to help his chances of being selected by ministers as the next BoE governor.
CITY AM
HEYWOOD EMAILS REVEAL A RISING PANIC ON KEY RATES
By Lauren Davidson
Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood was in frequent contact with the Bank of England over the Libor rate during the height of the financial crisis, according to emails revealed yesterday. Correspondence from 2008 between Sir Jeremy, then principal private secretary to chancellor Gordon Brown; Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker, then the central bank’s director for markets; and former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond shows the extent to which the interbank lending rate was a topic of significant concern for the government.
….. THE OTHER NEWS ….
FINANCIAL TIMES
CHINESE TRADE SURPLUS JUMPS TO $31.7BN
By Simon Rabinovitch in Beijing
Chinese export and import growth both slowed in June, showing that the world’s second-largest economy faces strong headwinds. Exports rose 11.3 per cent from a year earlier, down from May’s 15.3 per cent pace. Imports increased 6.3 per cent from a year earlier, half of May’s 12.7 per cent and well below expectations.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
EUROZONE OFFERS SPAIN €30BN URGENT FUNDING
Euro area finance ministers have agreed on the terms of a bailout for Spain's troubled banks, saying that €30bn can be ready by end of this month to help save one of the largest countries in the eurozone from needing a full bailout.
GUARDIAN
FINANCE INDUSTRY'S MULTIMILLION-POUND LOBBYING BUDGET REVEALED
By Nick Mathiason and Melanie Newman
Investigation shows sector spent £92m in 2011 to secure favourable policy changes as part of 'economic war of attrition' The City of London corporation alone spends just over £10m on public affairs advocacy, the investigation found. It prompted concern that its scale and influence puts the interests of the wider economy in the shade.
DAILY MAIL
PLAN TO SELL OFF NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC SERVICES HAS BEEN GROUNDED
By Ray Massey, Transport Editor
A controversial sale of the Government’s 49 per cent stake in the National Air Traffic Services has been grounded after hitting turbulence, Transport Secretary Justine Greening will announce today. With German state-controlled bidders in pole position to buy a controlling interest in NATS, nervous ministers decided it was better to perform a U-turn and dump the deal altogether rather than risk the political and financial fallout from handing control of Britain’s skies to Berlin.
DAILY EXPRESS
BMW FUELS UK WITH A £250M MINI TOP-UP
By Peter Cunliffe
Britain’s resurgent car industry received another boost yesterday when German owner BMW unveiled plans to invest £250million in its Mini factories to meet booming international demand. The world’s biggest luxury car maker said the cash would be used to increase output and provide job security for 5,500 British staff at plants in Oxford, Swindon and Birmingham.
WWW.BBC.CO.UK
BIG FIRMS FACE HIGH PENSION COSTS, SAYS LCP
Companies in the FTSE 100 share index paid an extra £11bn into their pension schemes last year, aiming to reduce the deficit of schemes. However, actuaries LCP found that the group still had a total deficit of £41bn at the end of May 2012. This was double the figure of a year earlier, but down on the £51bn deficit seen 12 months before that.
…..AND FIN ALLY ……
DAILY TELEGRAPH
GROMIT: WALLACE'S DOG COMPANION 'NEARLY A CAT'
Gromit, the much-loved canine companion of inventor Wallace, was meant to be a cat, the character’s creator Nick Park has disclosed. The Oscar-winning animator, 53, said he changed his mind after realising that dogs were easier to make.
