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Companies should force City investment banks to compete to underwrite their rights issues in an effort to drive down the costs of cash calls, according to a much-awaited report. The report, by the Institutional Investor Council, finds that fees on British capital raisings, which have roughly doubled to about 4% in the past decade, are far too high, the Times reports.US securities regulators have broadened their investigation into the alleged $8bn Ponzi scheme run by Allen Stanford, the Texan billionaire, to include brokerage executives who invested their clients' money in Stanford International Bank products. The Securities and Exchange Commission has notified Danny Bogar, former president of Stanford International Bank's brokerage operations, and several brokers in recent months that it intends to file civil fraud charges against them in connection with the probe, according to lawyers involved in the case and a regulatory filing, the FT reports.Bankers are indulging in "blackmail" for threatening to flee the City of London for more business-friendly locations in Asia over tough new caps on pay and bonuses, European commissioner Michel Barnier has told UK MPs. The man in charge of internal markets and services, in his first appearance before a committee of the British parliament on Monday, said he was "not overly impressed" at the idea that that financial institutions could leave such a financial heartland, the FT reports.The Irish government has blocked Allied Irish Banks from spending €40m on bonuses, saying it would withhold state aid if the pay-outs went ahead. The bank had argued that it was legally required to pay bonuses to bankers for work done during 2008 - in the lead-up to the banking crisis, the Telegraph reports.UK companies could damage the fragile economic recovery by using next month's rise in VAT to "mask" hikes in prices as they seek to protect profits from rising costs, a leading firm of accountants warned yesterday. Following widespread price-cutting during the downturn, 56% of retailers and consumer goods manufacturers plan to raise prices next year above the 2.5% uplift in VAT on 4 January, a KPMG survey of 200 senior executives reveals, reports the Independent.Charlie Bean, the deputy governor of the Bank of England, has admitted that inflation is "uncomfortably" above the official target of 2% - and compared the sovereign debt crises enveloping the eurozone with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, an event that led to a global collapse in market confidence, the Independent reports.More European banks may have to be rescued, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, the "club" of the world most advanced economies, warned. Against a backdrop of "muted" recovery, the OECD said that, while substantial support to Europe's banks should be gradually withdrawn, "further recapitalisation of banks could be necessary [and] all countries should have a full set of effective, credible and harmonised bank resolution tools", the Independent reports.A major shareholder in a Russian property company listed on Aim has claimed it is being used as a "personal bank" for the chairman and chief executive, and demanded an overhaul of the board. In an extraordinary stock exchange announcement, a string of allegations were made against the directors of RGI International, including bribery, nepotism and excessive remuneration, the Telegraph reports.Britain's leading accountants plan to capitalise on rising university fees by increasing the number of students they hire directly from school. Amid concerns that many young people may be put off attending university because of the soaring cost of tuition, Deloitte said that it would create 100 places for secondary school leavers under a direct-entry scheme announced yesterday. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) already takes 60 students directly from school each year but plans to increase that number after being swamped with applications from students who have opted not to go to university, the Times reports.British companies announced a flurry of deals worth nearly £2.5bn yesterday, as chief executives pushed through takeovers before the festive break. Five agreed takeovers were announced, boosting sentiment in the City and sending the FTSE up to its highest level for more than a month, the Times reports.