In brief: Play fair says Mervyn King and what will be the legacy of the Olympics ?
FINANCIAL TIMES
King urged to widen recovery measures
By Chris Giles, Economics Editor
An outgoing member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has challenged the governor Sir Mervyn King for his insistence that central banks should buy only government bonds in quantitative easing programmes to stimulate growth.
Adam Posen told the Financial Times that the BoE could be much more effective in fostering economic recovery if it ditched “anguished religious ethics” over what it considered reasonable intervention.
DAILY MAIL
Mervyn King and new Barclays chairman urge 'greedy' bankers to play fair
By James Salmon
The Bank of England governor and the incoming Barclays chairman have become the latest heavyweight figures to launch a withering broadside against greed in the banking industry.
Sir Mervyn King urged bankers to learn from the selfless dedication of Team GB athletes and Olympics volunteers in a humiliating rebuke.
THE SCOTSMAN
Sir David Walker’s pay review risks a ‘mass exodus’ of bankers from Barclays
By Martin Flanagan
New Barclays chairman Sir David Walker risks “a mass exodus” of investment bankers if his review of pay for senior staff is handled clumsily, a top City headhunter warned yesterday.
The comments came after weekend interviews in which Walker vowed to launch a “root-and-branch reform” of Barclays’s pay policies in a culture of “apparent greed” within the bank.
BBC.CO.UK
Employers face 'make-or-break' time, says CIPD
Employers are facing a "make-or-break moment" as many will have to make job cuts if the economy does not pick up, according to a report.
The survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) showed that a third of private sector employers had kept on more staff than they needed to avoid losing skills.
SKY NEWS
Jobcentre Staff Walk Out Over Conditions
More than 6,000 Jobcentre staff are to go on strike today in a long-running dispute over "oppressive working conditions and unrealistic targets".
Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union in 32 call centres in England, Scotland and Wales will reignite industrial action first taken last year.
They claim that "draconian" conditions are preventing them from providing a decent service.
CITY A.M.
Lord Coe tasked with striving for an Olympian legacy
By Tim Wallace
The glorious success of the last 16 days must be used as a springboard to boost British business as well as sport for years to come, the government announced yesterday, appointing Lord Coe to the new position of Olympics legacy ambassador.
Coe is charged with using his global image to travel the world pushing new trade and investment deals, driving forward regeneration and volunteering plans and advising on projects from infrastructure development to school sport.
FINANCIAL TIMES
Happiness is only legacy from Olympics
By Simon Kuper
For years, a favourite word of London’s Olympic organisers has been “legacy”. The games were not just meant to be a fortnight of joy, but rather they would boost Britain’s economy and “inspire a generation” to play sport. David Cameron, prime minister, has named Lord Coe, chairman of the London organising committee, as the country’s Olympic legacy ambassador, and spoke of “making sure we turn these games into gold for Britain”.
It feels intuitive that hosting such a memorable event should leave a legacy. But economists who study the topic almost all agree that it doesn’t. Britain will probably get only one intangible benefit: increased happiness.
DAILY EXPRESS
Standard Chartered in crunch talks with US regulators
Standard Chartered is attempting to reach a settlement with US regulators over money laundering allegations as it prepares for a crucial meeting on Wednesday.
Nearly £6billion was wiped off the value of the bank’s shares last week when the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) accused it of being a “rogue institution” whose dealings with Iran left the US financial system vulnerable to terrorism.
THE INDEPENDENT
Now British millionaires lose faith in Osborne
By Oliver Wright
A majority of Britain's millionaires have, for the first time, lost confidence in George Osborne's economic policies.
An annual survey of individuals who have net disposable assets – not including their main home – of more than £1m found that confidence in the Government's management of the economy has fallen sharply over the past year.
THE GUARDIAN
EasyJet founder urges shareholders to oust chairman
By Jill Treanor
Sir Michael Rake's tenure as chairman of easyJet will be put to the test on Monday when shareholders vote at a meeting called by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of the low-cost airline and largest shareholder.
At the meeting in a hangar in Luton, representatives of Haji-Ioannou are expected to outline reasons why Rake, a former senior accountant, should step down. The company has urged shareholders to back Rake and said when the meeting was called last month it had assurances from seven institutional investors that they would vote against the resolution.
THE TELEGRAPH
Shareholders call for Anglo American chief Cynthia Carroll's exit
By Louise Armitstead
Several of the miner's biggest institutional investors have contacted Sir John Parker, the chairman of Anglo American, to ask him to start the search for a new chief executive.
The latest set of results was the "coup de grâce" after months of frustration, they said, and they are concerned that the company's poor performance has made it vulnerable to an opportunistic takeover.
THE TIMES
Big Four on attack over ‘unfair’ plan to raise fines
By Alex Spence
Top accountants have hit back at plans by auditing regulators to drastically increase the fines they will face for misconduct, describing the proposals as “irrational” and “fundamentally misconceived”.
The Financial Reporting Council, which investigates significant audit failures, believes that the big firms have not been punished adequately for their mistakes and wants to introduce stiffer penalties based on the size of their turnover.
