UK Business News

Russian billionaire bid for Standard

Viscount Rothermere, owner of DMGT, has rebuffed a bid for the Evening Standard by ex-KGB officer Alexander Lebedev

Madoff ‘asked UK arm for £100m’ just before end

Bernard Madoff asked for money to be transferred to his US business weeks before he allegedly confessed to running Ponzi scheme

• Sons turned in Madoff over $1m jewellery mail-out

• Want to borrow a Rolex watch?

Aon is fined £5.25m as FSA launches crackdown

The City's chief regulator signalled a crackdown on bribery as it fined the insurance broker for anti-corruption failings

• FSA fortifies campaign to stop insider deals

• FSA steps up insider dealing blitz

Sainsbury's value line jumps by 40%

Justin King said the supermarket was profiting from recession-inspired thrift and a 'massive trend' towards home cooking

World Business News

OECD blames regulation for crisis

A 'gob-smacking' weakness in the way banks are regulated led to the financial crisis, the OECD says in biannual review

PwC in spotlight over 'India's Enron' fraud

Angry Indian investors are demanding to know how PricewaterhouseCoopers missed a systematic £1bn fraud at Satyam

• Man who 'rode the tiger' faces ten years

• Satyam fraudster says he is 'ready for jail'

German government takes Commerzbank stake

State will own a quarter of Commerzbank and have two board seats as part of deal similar to UK banking bailout

Waterford Wedgwood set for sale to US fund

Administrators of china and crystal business agreed in principle to sell to American vulture fund KPS Capital

Analysis

'Bad bank' allows others to be good

The howls from corporate Britain suggest that bankers remain reluctant to lend, however much they insist they are lending more

• Two cheers for the Trillium deal

• Clifford Chance: backed into a tight corner

Trying to predict can often be fruitless

Buying into Facebook at an implied $25 billion is as much an optimistic purchase as splashing out on a pair of red jeans

Tempus: Hays ... Weir Group ... Autonomy

High dividend promise at Hays cannot fail ... Weir Group's shares are attractively valued ... Autonomy, as always, looks expensive

Money 

Savers count cost as banks cut deposit rates

Increasing number of savings accounts pay interest of 1 per cent or less

Energy bills to drop by more than £100

Gas and electricity suppliers are expected to follow Scottish Power's lead by cutting tariffs

• British Gas guarantees its lower energy prices

• Ways to cut bills during a recession

More pain for with-profits savers

Millions of savers with endowments, bonds and pensions have been warned that maturity payouts will be slashed

• Standard Life cuts with-profits bonus rates

• Market falls threaten Norwich Union's £1bn payout

Law 

FSA considers forcing disclosure of all short positions

Regulator is considering introducing a requirement that 'significant' short positions in all UK shares be disclosed

Boardman: law firms right to cut partners

The UK's leading corporate lawyer says that firms should protect associates and target underperforming partners instead

• Hard times hit partners in leading law firms

• EAT rules law firms can force partners to retire

Fusty image puts women off being judges

The judiciary is losing out on some of the profession's top talent due to perceptions of low pay and unsociable hours

• Opening family courts to scrutiny

• MPs accuse courts of allowing libel tourism

business travel 

Profile: Raymond Blanc

The celebrity chef talks of how his forgetfulness has turned business trips into nightmares and his views on the state of airline food

• Profile: Shopaholic Patricia Davidson

• Profile: Dame Mary Perkins, Specsavers

The 2009 business traveller

What does the coming 12 months hold in store for road warriors? Business travel editor Mark Frary makes his predictions

Airlines start January sales

Bmi offering discounts with no blackout dates or minimum stay requirements; one way BA upgrades to business class from £59

• The best last minute travel deals and bargains