Banks face tougher rules on pay disclosure
The Treasury is looking at introducing tougher requirements on bankers’ pay disclosure than those proposed last week by Sir David Walker. Alistair Darling, the chancellor, announced a formal consultation exercise on Monday on whether legislation should go further than the Walker review, which proposed that banks should disclose the numbers of employees earning above £1m ($1.6m) in bands of £5m. Treasury officials said there was a case for greater disclosure. "There are strong arguments for going further, for example starting at £750,000 and having narrower bands,” said one official.

Staff pensions at risk as bosses shun occupational schemes
Wealthy entrepreneurs are turning their backs on staff pension schemes following government cuts in generous tax relief on their own retirement savings. According to leading pension advisers, entrepreneurs and other wealthy business people are less inclined to support staff pensions following rule changes that cut the tax benefits they enjoy when they save in a scheme. Without the support and active involvement of bosses in occupational schemes, they will receive less attention and, in the worst cases, be allowed to disappear, leaving staff without a savings vehicle tied to their jobs, the advisers said. The trend mostly affects smaller businesses.

Chairmen to face annual job vote
Company chairmen and boards could face an annual shareholder vote to stay in their job, under new proposals. The Financial Reporting Council's (FRC) proposals on business governance follow Sir David Walker's review of banks last week. Under the current FRC code of practice, board members must face re-election at least once every three years. The Association of British Insurers said consideration should be given to re-electing all board members annually. Sir Christopher Hogg, FRC Chairman, said board members must "think deeply" about their responsibilities.

Government slammed for spending £80m on bailout consultants
The Treasury is to be rebuked this week by the Whitehall watchdog for spending more than £80m on private consultants to advise them on the bailout of HBOS and the Royal Bank of Scotland. The National Audit Office (NAO) report will reveal on Friday that payouts to consultants for the rescue package for the two banks is higher than the £70m spent saving Northern Rock the previous year. The NAO investigation will reveal that City firms, including Goldman Sachs, which is expected to pay out huge bonuses in the new year, pocketed more than £150m from the taxpayer in advising the Treasury how to save other banks from going bust.

Ross gets job back a year after loan scandal
David Ross, the multi-millionaire co-founder of Carphone Warehouse who was forced to give up a slew of company directorships following a scandal involving loan collateral last year, won back one of his former posts yesterday. Mr Ross is to return to his role as chairman of the marine equipment manufacturer Cosalt, having stepped down from the job a year ago when it emerged that he had pledged Carphone shares against personal loans of £75m without disclosing the arrangement.

New technology ‘must drive global carbon emissions cuts’
New technology including smart meters, "intelligent” electricity grids and teleconferencing systems could cut global carbon dioxide emissions by up to 20 per cent, according to the chairman of BP. Carl-Henric Svanberg, the newly appointed chairman of Britain’s biggest company, said such technology would play a significant role in tackling climate change by cutting energy wastage and demand for domestic and international travel. His remarks come as the Government sets out details today of a £9 billion plan to introduce smart meters in all 26 million British homes by 2020.

Rebel expenses MPs can't escape paybacks
MPs who refuse to return extravagant expenses claims will have the cash deducted from their salaries, pensions or the "golden goodbyes” they receive when they retire. More than 50 backbenchers are understood to be resisting repaying claims identified as excessive by Sir Thomas Legg, who is scrutinising their claims over the last five years. He has infuriated many MPs by taking what they view as too draconian an approach to ordering repayments. They argue that they claimed the allowances in good faith and in line with parliamentary rules at the time.

Doctors warned not to respond to amorous advances from patients on social networking sites
Doctors have been warned not to respond to amorous approaches from patients on social networking sites because it may be seen as overstepping the professional boundary of the doctor/patient relationship. The warning was raised by the Medical Defence Union (MDU), which said it was aware of a number of cases where patients had attempted to proposition doctors by sending them an unsolicited message on Facebook or similar sites.

Tips 'still being counted towards wages'
Hospitality employers are still abusing the tips system despite Government moves to stop them being counted as part of workers' wages, a leading union claimed today. Unite said it was "frustrated and disappointed" that employers were continuing to prevent all customers' tips going straight to workers. Unite said it had uncovered evidence of hourly rates of pay being cut as a direct consequence of the minimum wage regulations being amended, pools for tips being widened to reduce the amount going to each individual, administration fees being raised, management increasing the proportions they take and staff having to pay the price for breakages, customer walkouts and till shortages.

Climate scientist James Hansen hopes summit will fail
A leading scientist acclaimed as the grandfather of global warming has denounced the Copenhagen summit on climate change next week as a farce. James Hansen, the director of Nasa’s Goddard Insitute for Space Studies, told The Times that he planned to boycott the UN conference because it was seeking a counter-productive agreement to limit emissions through a "cap and trade” system. "The fundamental problem is that fossil fuels are the cheapest form of energy. As long as they are, they are going to be used,” he said. "It’s remarkable. They refuse to recognise and address the fundamental problem and the obvious solution.”

Global gas glut threatens green energy
A glut in global supplies of natural gas threatens to undermine British investment in low-carbon sources of electricity, including nuclear and wind power, according to the chief executive of Britain’s biggest energy supplier. Sam Laidlaw, chief executive of Centrica, said that an expected surplus of global gas supplies over the next five years could force down wholesale prices to a level where energy companies may be discouraged from investing in more costly alternative sources of energy, such as nuclear reactors and offshore wind farms — particularly if this was accompanied by continued weakness in the price of carbon emissions permits.

Primark faces new claims that it uses sweatshop labour
Primark was embroiled in a new row over the treatment of sweatshop workers today as shareholders gathered to celebrate record profits at the budget clothing chain. According to new research by charity War on Want, workers stitching Primark clothes in Bangladesh earn so little that they cannot eat properly, and many end up "malnourished". If true, the allegations would breach a code of conduct introduced by Primark to improve the treatment of workers amid allegations of exploitation.

Lloyds may pull the plug on its Scots charity funding
Lloyds Banking Group is considering ending its funding of the Lloyds TSB Scotland foundation that distributes £6 million a year to Scottish charities, the head of the foundation has claimed. The bank wants to cut the share of profits it distributes to four British foundations from 1 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Talks with the foundations covering England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands are said to be well advanced but those with the Scottish foundation are stalled.

Berlusconi accused by Mafia hitman
Italy’s centre-right government on Friday was rocked by accusations made in court by a Mafia hitman that Silvio Berlusconi had made commitments to Sicily’s Cosa Nostra as he was about to enter politics 15 years ago. Testifying behind a screen in a high security court in Turin, Gaspare Spatuzza, a Mafia turncoat, claimed he had been told by a top Sicilian mobster in January 2004 that Mr Berlusconi and his long-time business associate, Marcello Dell’Utri, had given "everything” the Mafia had wanted. "Thanks to the seriousness of these people, they have practically put the country in our hands,” Mr Spatuzza quoted Giuseppe Graviano as saying.

Comparison sites are 'misleading'
Price comparison websites, used by millions of consumers every month, are "misleading" because they give greater prominence to companies willing to pay their fees, according to industry experts. Price comparison websites have increased in popularity during the recession as consumers use them to hunt down the best possible deals, with over 22 million people using one of these sites in the last three month. However, many consumers do not realise that comparison sites make their money by earning a commission every time a consumer "clicks through" to a financial service provider's website to apply for a bank account, loan or insurance product.

Pay cuts helped save two million from unemployment
Almost two million Britons have been saved from unemployment after accepting pay cuts or choosing to work part time. Record numbers of people have seen their pay frozen or cut as firms fight the recession and stave off redundancies, according to internal Treasury figures. The Treasury calculates that by accepting these measures 1.7 million who might have been made redundant in the recession have been saved from the dole queue. However, as a result income tax receipts have collapsed. The consequence is that the Government will next week confirm that it is facing the biggest peacetime deficit in history, with the amount it is set to borrow this year alone set to be close to £180 billion.

Mandelson warns Kraft that its intentions towards ‘our Cadbury’ must be honourable
Kraft, the American food group, yesterday fired the starting gun on one of Britain’s biggest hostile takeover bids. The move provoked a stark warning from Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary. "If you think that you can come here and make a fast buck, you will find huge opposition from the local population and from the British Government,” he said. Lord Mandelson added that a foreign buyer for Cadbury would have to "respect our company, respect our workforce and respect the legacy of our company”. He warned suitors and hedge funds, which have invested heavily in Cadbury: "We expect long-term commitment, not short-term profit, to rule.”

Bosses’ bonuses will be next under the spotlight
So far it has just been the bankers that have been on the receiving end of the venom against bonuses. But it won’t be long before the remuneration packages enjoyed at public companies return to the spotlight. As we approach the year-end, there are many boards that believe they should be rewarded for their efforts over the past year. There is much gnashing of teeth from company bosses who say their share options are now under water and they want reincentivising. That view, though, is not necessarily shared by their investors. Share prices may have rallied since the summer but over a two- to three-year period they are still significantly down and investors want directors to share some of the pain.

IT industry lobbies governments to accept its role in tackling climate change
Online media site TelecomTV is pressing governments to acknowledge the role that the IT and telecommunications industry could take in helping combat climate change. In a film screened at the International Telecommunication Union's conference in Geneva, TelecomTV argues that the industry should be a "key part" of the debate at the Copenhagen summit, set to begin tomorrow. The film, Green Planet, examines how the IT industry could help reduce CO2 by 15 per cent. Ahead of the summit, figures from the think tank Business for New Europe show that 79 per cent of top FTSE 500 directors agree that the EU should take a lead in the battle against climate change.

Darling plans tax on bank bonuses
Alistair Darling is drawing up plans to face down the country's top bankers by taking the "nuclear option" of a windfall tax on their bumper bonuses as part of measures aimed at the super-rich. The dramatic move, which was off the agenda just weeks ago, is under active discussion as the Treasury and No 10 try desperately to control the explosion of public anger over bankers' pay. It is also understood that Darling and his officials would only press ahead if safeguards could be built in to prevent widespread evasion. There is also concern in some parts of government about a potential backlash from businesses and the City.

Have a break – have an ethical Kit Kat
Nestlé, the world's biggest food company, is to pay poor cocoa farmers more for their beans by switching its best-selling Kit Kat chocolate bar to Fairtrade. Embarking on what its UK chocolate boss described as an ethical "long journey", the four-finger Kit Kat will carry the Fairtrade logo from next month. Over the next two years the two-finger and other versions of the £183m-a-year bar will make the switch. Nestlé said the extra money would fund education and healthcare in the West African state, which is recovering from the 2002-2007 civil war.

Greenhouse gas cuts just 'token gestures'
The cuts in greenhouse gas emissions being proposed at the Copenhagen climate conference, which opens today, are completely inadequate to stop dangerous climate change, one of Britain’s leading climate scientists warns. Current proposals, including recent ones from major emitting nations such as the US, China and India, are "little more than token gestures”, compared to what the science deems necessary to give even a 50-50 chance of staying below the danger threshold, says Professor Kevin Anderson, Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Manchester.

Ethics will not keep Cadbury independent
With Kraft’s release of its offer document, its battle to take over Cadbury begins in earnest and Todd Stitzer, Cadbury chief executive, has made its ethical heritage a central feature of its defence. Cadbury’s Quaker founders took a moral approach. "This is not necessarily the heritage of competitors,” Mr Stitzer said. "The Cadburys were principled capitalists; they believed you could make a profit and do the right thing. We want to keep those values alive.” All the same, the assertion that Kraft would lower Cadbury’s moral tone seems pretty lame. Cadbury needs to show it will be a better business if it remains independent. The ethics argument is a red herring, and not a particularly sustainable one.

Bankers to be hit by super-tax on bonuses
A super-tax on bankers’ bonuses is expected to form the centrepiece of Chancellor Alistair Darling’s pre-Budget report. It is thought that the tax will be set higher than the 50 per cent income tax rate coming in from April for those earning more than £150,000 a year in Wednesday's pre-Budget report . The punitive move is intended as an ultimatum from the Chancellor warning the City to "start living in the real world” as banks prepare to hand out bonuses. The measure is aimed at the highest earners and will hit thousands of bankers, while not penalising low-paid staff in bank branches.

MPs' expenses: Ministers braced for further damage as new claims to be made public
The Parliamentary authorities are preparing to publish details of expense claims made by every MP and peer between April 2008 and July 2009. John Bercow, the Speaker, has pledged not to censor the claims as extensively as they were earlier this year when receipts for previous years were released. The Daily Telegraph can disclose that several Government ministers are facing questions over items purchased at taxpayers’ expense during the past financial year. On Thursday it will emerge that: Harriet Harman, the leader of the House charged with cleaning up the expenses system, claimed for a digital camera bought by her assistant while on holiday in South Africa.

Corus 'refusing to sell land' to firm offering 7,000 jobs
Corus, the steelmaker which announced plans to mothball parts of its Teesside plant last week, is allegedly refusing to sell prime riverside land to an offshore construction firm which wants to create 7,000 jobs on the site. Vera Baird, MP for Redcar, criticised Corus for allegedly sitting on the land in her Teesside constituency as the Government announced a £60m emergency package to bolster the region's economy. The intervention, announced on Tuesday by Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, comes four days after Corus disclosed its plan to axe 1,700 jobs and close its Redcar Blast Furnace, Lackenby Steelmaking and the Southbank Coke Ovens by the end of January.

Half of borrowers rely on high cost loans to survive, says OFT
The figures come just a fortnight before Christmas, when consumers traditionally face a sharp rise in their outgoings – and it paves the way for borrowers to wake up with a financial hangover in the New Year. The report highlighted where credit can be "damaging” when borrowers overstretch themselves and are left unable to repay the amount that they have borrowed. It found 52 per cent are dependent on door step lending – which tends to focus on short-term, high cost loans. The interest rates found on these types of loan is typically higher than 50 per cent, but can extend to beyond 500 per cent.

North East to get £60m after Corus cuts
Lord Mandelson will pump £60 million of taxpayers’ funds into businesses in the North East of England to help to offset the effect of 1,700 steel workers losing their jobs on Teesside. The Business Secretary has secured the funding for the North East — the region of his own constituency when he was MP for Hartlepool — only days after Corus, the steelmaker, said that it would wind down production at its slab steel plant in Redcar. Lord Mandelson has long believed that the North East has a unique opportunity to shift from heavy industry to businesses that are focused on low-carbon, advanced manufacturing and biotech.

Pre-Budget Report: How bankers are dodging to save their bonuses from windfall tax
Bankers across the City are trying to change the terms of their pay deals to avoid Alistair Darling’s threatened bonus tax on their earnings. Financiers are in frantic talks with their employers, having moved swiftly over the past few days to try to avoid punitive taxes on their bonuses. The City is scared that Mr Darling will use today’s Pre-Budget Report to announce such a one-off levy. And high earners have rushed to make contingency plans with their employers, lawyers and accountants.

High Street stores 'as hot as the tropics'
Leading chains are wasting millions of pounds by keeping their stores above 80 degrees Fahrenheit while leaving their doors wide open all day. A survey of the major chains on Oxford Street found the flagship Topshop branch, where the doors are kept open, had a temperature of 80.9F or 27.2C. That is on a par with tropical Bali and hotter than Jamaica, Sydney and Tenerife, popular winter holiday destinations for Britons. Others found with temperatures above 77F (25C) included Bodyshop, Debenhams, Esprit, HMV, Clinton Cards, Boots and Monsoon.

Pre-Budget report: Bankers may evade Alistair Darling's bonus tax
Investment banking boutiques, such as Lazard, NM Rothschild, Greenhill and Perella Weinberg, are expected to claim that they are not technically banks because they do not take deposits, lend money or trade. The advisory houses employ star dealmakers such as Ken Costa, Robert Leitao, James Lupton, and Philip Yates, who pull off deals that are just as big – and as lucrative – as the integrated banks. The apparent loophole in the Chancellor's most populist pre-Budget report measure was part of wider confusion caused by the bank payroll tax across the City.

Illegal palm oil from forests taints Unilever household brands
A company that produces many of Britain’s best-known household brands has been exposed as contributing to the destruction of rainforests by buying thousands of tonnes of illegal palm oil. Unilever, which uses palm oil in its Flora and Stork margarines, Dove toiletries and Persil washing powder among many other products, will today announce that it is cutting links with Sinar Mas, Indonesia’s largest palm oil company. Unilever is acting after being shown photographic evidence of Sinar Mas clearing rainforest in protected areas, including reserves for the country’s endangered orang-utan population.

No cash bonuses for top Goldman staff
The US investment bank Goldman Sachs says its 30 top managers will receive no cash bonuses this year. They will instead have to make do with shares which they will be banned from selling for five years and could lose if they fail to raise concerns over risk. Goldman has been portrayed as one of the chief villains of the credit crisis and has been facing mounting criticism over what could prove to be a record bonus pool that is expected to lead to an average payment of $700,000 (£430,000) to its 31,000 employees across the world.

Police worker sacked for abusing force credit card
A Scotland Yard worker has been sacked for abusing a new corporate credit card introduced to stamp out fraud. Two further police officers are under investigation for suspected misuse of the overhauled expenses system. Senior officers scrapped the use of American Express cards after an anti-corruption inquiry uncovered fraud and that many officers broke internal rules. New Barclaycards with lower spending limits, tighter rules and shorter repayment intervals were handed to a smaller number of officers and staff.

Britain and France want bank tax to fund climate change plan
Britain and France called yesterday for a new global tax on financial transactions to mitigate the impact of climate change. In a joint statement, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, said: "To ensure predictable and additional finance in the medium term to 2020 and beyond, we should make use of innovative financing mechanisms, such as the use of revenues from a global financial transactions tax."

Union members vote to strike at Fujitsu
The first national strike in the IT sector was announced yesterday after staff at Fujitsu, the Japanese-owned technology company, voted to walk out over cost-cutting measures. Unite, the union, said that 75 per cent of its members who were balloted backed strike action, while 92 per cent voted in favour of some form of action short of going on strike. Fujitsu, which employs 11,500 people in the UK, launched a cost-saving strategy earlier this year involving freezing pay, closing the main final-salary pension scheme to new staff and announcing a series of job cuts.

UK company bribed Chinese official
A British environmental consulting company which lists "integrity” among its corporate values bribed a Chinese official with £15,000 to win contracts, according to official reports of a court case in Shanghai. Environmental Resources Management (ERM) is said to have paid off an influential bureaucrat in the city’s environmental protection office who is now on trial. It is believed to be the first time a British company has been named in a high-profile Chinese bribery case. ERM has worked on the 2012 London Olympics and counts Marks & Spencer and BP among its clients.

Harriet Harman backs down on Equality Bill pay rules
Harriet Harman’s plans to make companies introduce equal pay for men and women are to be watered down to ensure the legislation is passed before the general election next year. More than 97% of firms are now likely to be exempt from the rules in the Equality Bill. The softening of the legislation represents a victory for business groups that have lobbied for exclusion from the potentially costly regulation during the recession. In proposals to be published shortly, only companies that employ more than 500 workers will be under pressure to produce data showing they do not discriminate.

Drivers’ personal details handed to EU
The personal details of nearly 40m UK motorists will be open to abuse when they are "automatically” trawled by foreign states, an internal police report has admitted. Sensitive information such as a driver’s address, motoring convictions and medical history will be exposed to routine sifting by police, traffic wardens and other officials across Europe when European Union data-sharing plans come into force in 2011. The "restricted” document raises fears that foreign traffic police and other bureaucrats on the continent will be able to hunt down British tourists years after they return home for reasons such as unpaid parking fines.

ICICI arm accused of mistreating whistleblower
The UK subsidiary of India’s ICICI Bank has been accused by the Employment Tribunals in London of mistreating a whistleblower. The tribunal ruling is likely to reignite fierce debate over better protection for the rights of whistleblowers. India’s largest private sector bank tried immediately to repatriate the dealer, S. Kapoor, to India against his wishes after it was confirmed he had informed the UK Financial Services Authority about alleged irregularities. ICICI said the matter was under judgment but it rejected the allegation that Mr Kapoor’s repatriation was linked to his disclosures, saying it was instead due to the closure of his division, the proprietary trading group.

European taxpayers lose €5bn in carbon trading fraud
The European Union has probably lost at least €5bn (£4.5bn) to VAT fraud related to carbon trading and there is a risk that the criminals will now shift their attention to Europe's electricity and gas markets, according to Europol. The news will cause further embarrassment for European governments negotiating at the Copenhagen climate summit and trying to persuade other parts of the world to sign up to carbon trading as a way of reducing emissions. The fraud involves a criminal registering to be able to trade carbon permits in the ETS. The criminal then starts buying carbon permits in one EU country from another, free of VAT, then sells them on with the VAT added.

British Airways takes legal action against Unite to halt strike
British Airways said today that it was beginning legal action against the Unite union in an attempt to prevent a planned 12-day Christmas strike by cabin crew. The walkout threatens to ruin the festive travel plans of up to one million passengers. The airline has written to the union, claiming that irregularities in the way the strike ballot was conducted has made the industrial action illegal. It gave Unite a deadline of 2pm today to call off the walkout. No such announcement has been made.

Obama in tough talk to 'fat cat' bankers
Barack Obama, US President, yesterday delivered a stern message to "fat cat bankers", telling them that, having been bailed out by the taxpayer, they now had an "extraordinary" obligation to help spur on the economic recovery and jobs growth. With the White House voicing increasing frustration at the "disconnect" between the large profits and compensation packages at once-distressed banks and a nationwide unemployment rate of 10 per cent, the Obama administration urged the heads of the US's biggest banks to increase lending to small businesses and boost mortgage refinancing.

Copenhagen loopholes could mean rise in emissions, report warns
Four major loopholes in the Copenhagen draft texts could see carbon emissions increase by 2020, rather than plunge as scientists say must happen to avert dangerous global warming. That is the conclusion of a new analysis by Friends of the Earth, who argue the loopholes would cause greenhouse gases to rise by 10% by 2020, compared with 1990 levels, if they are not closed in the final four days of negotiations at the UN summit. A further 5% of emission cuts could be avoided if no agreement can be reached on aviation and shipping which account for as much as 5% of all global emissions.

Time to rebuild trust between the City, government and society
We urgently need a new settlement between finance, government and society. Over the past decade some sectors of finance seem to have forgotten that they should be a servant to the economy rather than its master. The financial crisis and reactions to it, such as the bonus tax, have strained trust between the City, government and society. But it is time for the stand-off to end. This moment of dislocation is an opportunity to restore finance to its proper role of oiling the wheels of commerce.

Iberdrola chief warns on cost of green power
Energy prices will have to rise if companies are to make the investments needed to cut carbon dioxide emissions, the head of the world's largest wind power company has said. Ignacio Galán, the chief executive of Iberdrola, the number one generator of wind power in Europe, and number two in the US, through its subsidiary Iberdrola Renovables, said consumers should "pay more [but] consume less". Speaking on the fringes of the Copenhagen climate change talks, intended to agree a new global framework for curbing carbon dioxide emissions, he said the industry had to make huge investments to deliver the changes that politicians wanted.

UK companies attacked over ‘woeful’ rights record
Some British multinational companies have a "woeful” human rights record overseas despite presenting a "compliant face” within the UK, according to a parliamentary committee that on Wednesday calls on the government to impose tougher standards on industry. The joint select committee on human rights is publishing a report calling on ministers to push for a new international agreement on business and human rights and the creation of a commission to monitor it. The committee heard complaints about companies using forced labour, polluting neighbourhoods, collaborating with repressive regimes and helping in projects that forced people out of their homes or damaged their health.

Rebellious Punch investors vote down executive pay awards for second year
Punch Taverns, Britain’s biggest pub company, suffered the embarrassment of having its remuneration report voted down by shareholders at yesterday’s annual meeting amid concerns over performance conditions. The vote follows representations by Pirc, the corporate governance watchdog, which said that the bonus and share incentive awards plus compensation to axed executives had been excessive in a year when the group racked up losses of £406 million after writedowns. This is the second year in a row that Punch has faced shareholder revolt over pay.

SFO launches investigation into collapse of Kaupthing
The Serious Fraud Office launched a formal investigation yesterday into the collapse of the Icelandic bank Kaupthing. The SFO said it wanted to identify "whether misrepresentations or false representations were communicated by the bank in the push to attract UK investors" into the high-yield Kaupthing Edge deposit account. The investigation is expected to look at the role of the Icelandic bank's UK subsidiary, Kaupthing Singer & Freidlander, in the promotion of the accounts, as well as the "decision- making processes" which led to the withdrawal of millions of pounds from accounts in the days and weeks leading up to its collapse last year.

Ex-Lehman Brothers staff to share $50m bonus bonanza
Approximately 230 bankers working to settle Lehman's $10bn-plus derivatives portfolio will share in the pay-out, after it was approved by a US bankruptcy judge. The bonus is equivalent to an average of $217,390 per banker, which though a significant amount of money, is understood to be roughly the market rate for the roles they have been performing. When it collapsed in September 2008, triggering financial shockwaves which pushed the global economy into a deep recession, Lehman had in excess of 10,000 derivative contracts on its books.

Serious Fraud Office to reinterview BAE chiefs over alleged bribes
The Serious Fraud Office is preparing to re-interview BAE Systems executives under caution after being told that it has a strong case against the company, which is accused of paying bribes to win defence contracts. Tim Langdale, QC, a legal expert appointed by the SFO to examine evidence, has told its director, Richard Alderman, that there are grounds for a prosecution.

UK companies lead the field globally for online CSR communications
Britain’s biggest energy supplier Centrica wins the CSR Online Awards ‘UK 2009’, a ranking of the best online CSR communications from the largest companies in the FTSE 100 index. Royal Dutch Shell takes second place, followed by Rio Tinto in third. British companies performed better than international peers, though interactivity remains weak. Centrica, with 66.5 points out of a maximum of 100, won first place in the CSR Online Awards thanks above all to high scores for interactivity and navigability.

1,100 bookshop jobs lost days before Christmas
Around 1,100 staff at struggling book chain Borders will lose their jobs on Christmas Eve after efforts to sell the business failed. Administrators MCR had been in talks with would-be buyers but said it had not been possible to sell any part of the business as a going concern. The firm has 45 Borders and Books Etc stores across the UK which will close on December 22, with staff finishing work two days later. Borders went into administration at the end of last month after coming under severe pressure from internet competition during the past year.

Accountant at Toys R Us stole £3.6m to treat prostitutes
An accountant who defrauded Toys R Us of £3.6 million to spend on prostitutes and expensive cars was jailed for seven years yesterday. Although friends and colleagues believed Hopes to be an ordinary family man, he was secretly lavishing money and gifts on five prostitutes. Judge Stephen John questioned how such a "simple fraud” could have taken place at a large company such as Toys R Us. Acting Detective Chief Inspector Dave Edmonson, head of the Thames Valley Police Economic Crime Unit, said: "Although [it is] difficult, businesses should strive to ensure that they have an anti-fraud culture and have checks and balances in place to avoid unscrupulous staff from taking advantage of the positions that they hold.”

Taxpayer landed with £12m fraud bill
Documents slipped out quietly to coincide with parliament's Christmas recess reveal the full extent of reported criminal activity in government departments over the last three years. Fraud last year alone totalled more than £4.2 million with cases ranging from small-scale "opportunistic" thefts of mobile phones and laptops to large-scale "procurement" frauds, of which the biggest involved £428,300, The Treasury reported. Most involved single offenders or small numbers of individuals, but one £100,000 case was thought to have involved up to 120 people in a single department.

Thalidomiders win payout 50 years on
The government has agreed a historic deal to give annual payments of up to £8m to the surviving victims of the drug thalidomide while also publicly apologising for their suffering over the past 50 years. Under the terms of the deal the Department of Health (DoH) will pay a grant of £20m, spread over three years, to the Thalidomide Trust, which dispenses aid to the roughly 450 thalidomide victims living in the UK. The thalidomiders were born in the 1950s and 1960s with deformed and stunted limbs and even brain damage as a result of their mothers being prescribed the drug as a treatment for morning sickness or insomnia while pregnant.

Google pays no tax on £1.6bn in Britain
Google, the internet giant whose informal corporate motto is "don’t be evil”, did not pay any tax on its £1.6 billion advertising revenues in Britain last year. The firm, which has a substantial presence in London, diverted all its advertising earnings from customers in Britain to its Irish subsidiary. The arrangement allowed Google legally to avoid paying more than £450m in corporation tax to HM Revenue & Customs in 2008, The Sunday Times has established. The disclosure prompted politicians to criticise Google, widely lauded as a pioneer of the internet age, for "ducking its social responsibility” and for "tax avoiding”.

Trafigura expands operations in Africa
Trafigura, the oil trader that paid £30m in compensation to Ivory Coast citizens after its toxic waste ended up in their country, has signed a major deal to step up its activities in Africa. The expansion will see the Dutch-registered company operating mainly out of London and open about 200 petrol stations in Angola, according to sources with knowledge of the company. Following the toxic waste incident three years ago, Greenpeace, the environmental group, has raised concerns about the oil group's further expansion in Africa. Trafigura has denied involvement in dumping cheap, dirty oil "slops" in the Ivory Coast in 2006, saying it did not know that the residue would be abandoned by a company paid to discharge the waste.

Expenses: more than 100 peers claimed over £50,000 last year
They include 18 members of the upper chamber who claimed more than £30,000 in housing costs – significantly more than the maximum of £24,000 which MPs receive to run a second home. The figures disclose that 17 peers claimed above £60,000, 11 more than £65,000 and one, the cross bencher Lord Laird, a total of £73,000. More than 300 claimed in excess of £25,000. Members of the upper house have been facing growing scutiny over their allowances since the Daily Telegraph in May began revealing details of MPs' expenses claims.

Lloyds and RBS to cut their overdraft charges
Millions of bank customers could soon be charged lower overdraft fees under a deal being thrashed out with the Office of Fair Trading, the Government disclosed yesterday. Consumer Affairs Minister Kevin Brennan said the two part state-owned banks would be "co-operating fully" with moves to improve much criticised unauthorised borrowing fees for current accounts. Speaking to BBC's Radio 5 Live, Mr Brennan said that although RBS and Lloyds (which merged with HBOS) were run at "arms-length" from the Government, they would be required to thrash out a deal to lower charges. In The Independent yesterday, he signalled ministers were prepared to legislate to lower charges for current account holders, unless the banks acted.

Lenders punish consumers for shopping around, says report
Consumers who shop around for the most favourable terms on unsecured credit risk being penalised by lenders, according to a report to be published today by the Treasury select committee. There are "likely to be serious flaws" in the credit market - particularly for unsecured credit such as personal loans and credit card accounts - as consumers are discouraged from shopping around, according to the report. John McFall, chairman of the Treasury committee, will today ask the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and Information Commissioner's Office to investigate evidence that some people who make repeated credit applications effectively receive black marks against their names, regardless of their ability to repay debt.

OFT drops investigation into bank overdraft fees after court ruling
The regulator yesterday announced it was dropping the investigation into the fairness of fees on unauthorised overdrafts on the grounds that it would now have "very limited scope and low prospects for success" if it were to continue. Despite the decision, the OFT said it continued to have "significant concerns about the operation of the market for personal current accounts". John Fingleton, OFT chief executive, said he was committed to securing significant changes to fees on overdrafts that had not been arranged, "whether through voluntary agreement with the banks or by other means".

Kaupthing will not pay back 4,000 UK savers until 2017
More than 4,000 British depositors may have to wait another eight years to get all their savings back from the offshore arm of the collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing. It is now 14 months since the bank collapsed and many savers with Kaupthing, Singer & Friedlander Isle of Man are still waiting in line with commercial creditors to be fully compensated. Under a prospective timetable set out by the bank's administrators PricewaterhouseCooper, the savers do not get paid their final dividend from the bank until 2017. They will get an estimated 80pc of their money back.

Hospitals 'dump' patients in wards to hit target
The Conservatives said data revealed under the Freedom of Information Act found that hospitals routinely admitted patients to wards called assessment units in order to get them out of A&E and make it appear as if they have met the four hour waiting target. The units are supposed to be for observation or further tests before patients are moved on to proper wards but some patients are spending days in them, it was warned. One of the key criticisms of the scandal-hit Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust, where up to 1,200 patients died needlessly, was that the four-hour waiting time target meant doctors were diverted from seriously ill patients to more minor ones who were in danger of breaching the waiting time.

Nestlé suspends Zimbabwe operations after complaining of harassment
In a blow to Zimbabwe's hopes of attracting foreign investment, Nestlé has suspended operations in the country, complaining of harassment after it pulled out of a deal to buy milk from a farm taken over by the family of Robert Mugabe, president. The shutdown follows months of mounting pressure on the company to purchase milk from a farm now owned by Mr Mugabe's wife, Grace. Nestlé said it had received an unannounced visit from government officials and police on December 19 and was forced to accept a milk delivery from non-contracted suppliers. Two of its managers were questioned by police and released without charge the same day.

Barclays investment bankers handed 150% pay rises
Thousands of Barclays investment bankers have been handed pay rises in the past few days, ahead of the government's 50% tax on bonuses. The Guardian has reported the move is likely to increase tensions with lower-paid staff in Barclays' high street operations who represent the majority of the workforce and are the public face of the bank. It is understood that some of the pay rises are as high as 150% and are being backdated to June, but Barclays has tried to play this down. Board director Bob Diamond, who has sold £5m worth of shares this year, defended "incentive compensation", stating that reward plays a crucial part of running investment banks.

Guy Hands blasts bankers for earning 'wheelbarrows of money'
Private equity tycoon Guy Hands has launched a remarkable attack on the banking sector, claiming that the bonus culture attracts talented people away from more useful roles in society. The Terra Firma chairman's assault on bankers' "wheelbarrows of money" comes in his annual letter to investors and just weeks after he launched an explosive lawsuit against investment banking giant Citigroup. "Such high pay levels attract many of the most talented individuals in society, thus removing them from more entrepreneurial, creative or leadership roles in the 'real' economy," he wrote in the letter, seen by The Sunday Telegraph.

Holland & Barrett bans plastic bags
Holland & Barrett health food stores are introducing a total ban on plastic bags from 1 January and calling for a tax on disposable carriers to encourage other retailers to do the same. As part of its green overhaul, the chain of 539 health stores is replacing plastic bags with paper, jute and cotton bags costing between 4p and 99p each. Holland & Barrett customers use 7.6m plastic bags a year and nationwide the UK uses an average of 167 bags per person per year, adding up to 13,000 bags per person over a lifetime, according to the chain. The retailer has invested in a recycling centre and opted for sea freight over air freight for imported goods.

Companies try to avoid 50% top tax rate by altering pay policies
Britain's leading companies are devising pay schemes that enable top executives to escape the new 50p rate of income tax for high earners that takes effect in April, the Guardian has learned. Some of the biggest companies in the country are constructing complex pay schemes that risk infuriating government ministers, who are determined to crack down on tax avoidance. Some of these schemes are "nakedly" intended to allow senior boardroom bosses to pay a tax rate of 18% instead of the 50% top rate, according to one industry expert. The new schemes have come to light only weeks after Alistair Darling announced a new supertax on bankers' bonuses in the pre-budget report amid growing public anger about top pay.

Businesses set to freeze employee pay, BCC warns
Nearly two-thirds of British businesses plan to freeze wages, or even cut them, over the next year while nearly a fifth are considering cutting benefits such as bonuses and gym memberships, a new survey shows. The research - by the British Chambers of Commerce and covering 260 businesses, three-quarters of which had fewer than 50 employees - highlights a very fragile recovery ahead. Official government data show unemployment hovering at 7.9 per cent amid signs that the number of those without jobs has probably peaked. However, the data also show that the number of full-time jobs is falling, while part-time employment is rising as businesses seek to avoid large-scale layoffs.

Monarch Airlines blasts 'irresponsible' Paddy Power for running book on carrier going bust
The Irish bookmaker cut the odds on the UK's largest charter airline becoming the next victim of the aviation downturn from 50-1 to 4-1 favourite after taking more than 100 bets over Christmas. Paddy then issued a press release entitled Punters predict Monarch may be dethroned. It said betting patterns suggested Monarch could be "the first to follow in the footsteps of doomed carrier Flyglobespan", which failed before Christmas. The bookmaker's odds were dismissed as "beyond belief" by Tim Jeans, Monarch managing director. "For people to make a game out of betting when an enterprise that's been around for 40 years will go bust is irresponsible," he said. "It's not funny either because we employ nearly 3,000 people and they don't want to be reading this."

Secret mobile phone code cracked
Computer hackers this week said they had cracked and published the secret code that protects 80 per cent of the world’s mobile phones. The move will leave more than 3bn people vulnerable to having their calls intercepted, and could force mobile phone operators into a costly upgrade of their networks. Karsten Nohl, a German encryption expert, said he had organised the hack to demonstrate the weaknesses of the security measures protecting the global system for mobile communication (GSM) and to push mobile operators to improve their systems. The hacked GSM code could compromise more than 3bn people in 212 countries.

Spending on Fairtrade food triples
Spending on "ethical" products from Fairtrade food to eco-friendly travel has almost tripled in the past decade, according to a survey by the Co-operative Bank published today. The annual Ethical Consumerism report showed the total market for sustainable goods and services was worth £36 billion in 2008, up from £13.5 billion in 1999. The rate of increase in household spending on ethical products outstripped the growth in overall consumer spending, which increased by 58pc over the decade. But the market for goods which were environmentally-friendly, sustainable or supported poor people remained a small percentage of the £891 billion spent by households last year.

Iceland approves new Icesave deal
Iceland's parliament has approved plans to repay 3.8bn euros (£3.4bn) to savers in the UK and the Netherlands. The money will go to the British and Dutch governments, who partially compensated savers when the Icesave online bank failed. More than 320,000 savers lost out when the bank collapsed in 2008. A bill on the measure, narrowly approved against strong opposition, was seen as crucial to Iceland's bid to join the EU and rebuild its economy. A poll taken in August suggests that 70% of Icelanders were against the Icesave deal. An original agreement - negotiated with the British and Dutch governments - was approved in August.

AT&T becomes latest sponsor to hang up on Tiger Woods
AT&T yesterday became the latest sponsor to turn tail on Tiger Woods after allegations of multiple extramarital affairs soiled the golfer’s pristine image. The American mobile phone giant joined other big sponsors, including Accenture and Gillette, in dropping or cutting back its association with the shamed sports star. AT&T said: "We are ending our sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods and wish him well in the future.” A spokesman for the company declined to comment further. Accenture, which centred its global advertising campaign around the sportsman, severed its six-year relationship with Mr Woods last month, saying that he was "no longer the right representative” for the company.

FSA let failing bank move on High Street
The Financial Services Authority did nothing to prevent Icelandic bank Kaupthing from setting up British retail operations eight months before it failed because it thought taking personal deposits would be a positive move to boost the bank's faltering liquidity. The Serious Fraud Office is now formally investigating Kaupthing under the Fraud Act to see whether the launch of its high-interest Edge retail accounts misled British savers. UK customers deposited £2.5bn in the internet accounts between April 2008 and the bank's collapse 15 months ago. According to very senior sources at the regulator, the FSA had worries about the liquidity of Kaupthing's British subsidiary before Christmas 2007.

China Mobile Communications executive sacked for 'serious economic problems'
The public face of corporate governance in Chinese state industry, Zhang Chunjiang, has been fired for "serious economic problems" in a setback for the cause of increased transparency among some of the world's largest companies. Mr Zhang, a prominent proponent of boardroom accountability at state-owned enterprises, was removed from his posts as Communist party secretary and vice-president at China Mobile Communications, the state-owned parent of Hong Kong-listed China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile carrier. Whereas overseas-listed Chinese companies and their boards have been forced to become more open and accountable, the party forums within those same enterprises remain highly secretive and closed to outsiders.

OFT watchdog says Ryanair payment policy is 'puerile'
Budget airline Ryanair has been accused of being "puerile and childish" over its payment policy by business watchdog the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). OFT chief executive John Fingleton attacked the company for fees that Ryanair adds when customers use all but one type of credit card to pay online. Ryanair said their payment policy model allows passengers "to avoid costs". The law says that if an airline offers at least one free payment method, it is allowed to advertise cheap fares that do not include extra credit card charges. Mr Fingleton said Ryanair had chosen a rare payment method to get around the rules. Currently the airline only offers a free booking service to customers who pay for tickets with a MasterCard prepaid card.

MPs claim they are above the law in expenses fraud case
Three Labour MPs being investigated for expenses fraud are arguing that they should not be prosecuted because their suspect claims are covered by parliamentary privilege. The MPs have hired legal experts to assert that the 1689 Bill of Rights protects them from prosecution. The lawyers are understood to have sent detailed submissions to police and prosecutors which contend that the House of Commons rule book on expenses is "privileged” and cannot be subject to scrutiny by the courts. The legal manoeuvre raises the prospect of the case against the MPs being thrown out before it reaches trial or being bogged down for months in legal argument.

Backlash over plan to extend TV advertising
Ministers are facing fierce opposition from medical groups, teaching unions and children's charities over plans to allow products to be used in television programmes for marketing purposes for the first time. Critics claim the move, which broadcasters say will give them up to £140m a year in extra revenue, will fuel childhood obesity, exacerbate the problems caused by alcohol and gambling, and distort storylines by rewarding programme makers for deliberately giving certain items high visibility. Ben Bradshaw, the culture secretary, recently announced plans to relax the rules in order to help commercial broadcasters weather the downturn in advertising. Campaigners have denounced the decision as a "sop to broadcasters and food companies".

Shell accused of abandoning solar power buyers in the developing world
Shell has become embroiled in a major row with the World Bank and green energy companies after allegations that it is unfairly refusing to honour warranties on solar power systems sold to the developing world. A widespread breakdown of its equipment in Sri Lanka and elsewhere has left the oil firm accused of abandoning a responsibility to impoverished communities while damaging the prospects of the wider renewable power sector in a world desperate to reduce carbon emissions following the Copenhagen climate change summit.