Barclays Share News (BARC)

The Government should hold a referendum on Britain's EU membership as soon as possible to end the uncertainty that the looming vote creates for businesses, according to one of the world's leading bond investors. The Pacific Investment Management Company (Pimco) said it was important for the UK to get the EU referendum vote "out of the way", so policymakers can focus on what it views as bigger risks to the UK economy, including the impact of further austerity. - The Daily TelegraphGeorge Osborne is preparing to signal an end to the £3.5 billion-a-year bank levy as he tries to head off a decision by Britain's largest lender to move its headquarters overseas. The chancellor is expected to use his annual Mansion House speech this evening to say that the levy will be phased out in its present form amid fears that it could prompt HSBC to quit Britain. - The TimesGeorge Osborne will stake his reputation today on achieving budget surpluses for generations to come, enshrining his pledge to pay down debt during "normal" years in legislation this autumn. Emphasising how the Conservative majority government differs from the coalition on fiscal policy, the chancellor will tell City grandees at the Mansion House dinner today that British governments will in future run surpluses almost every year. - Financial TimesThe oil industry is facing a shake-out as the crude price collapse makes the economics of expensive new projects questionable. Lower-cost producers in the US shale heartland and operators with cost effective production but stretched finances elsewhere, are expected to become targets. - Financial TimesBritish investigator linked to a bribery scandal in China involving drug maker GlaxoSmithKline has been released early from prison. Peter Humphrey and his American wife, Yu Yingzeng, were sentenced to two and a half years in a Chinese jail in August last year for illegally obtaining private records of Chinese citizens and selling the information on to clients including GSK. - The Daily TelegraphThe annual bill for NHS negligence in pregnancy has reached £1bn after more than 1,300 babies were killed or maimed last year. One basic error accounts for a quarter of payouts, with campaigners saying it was a "scandal" that the health service was failing to learn from its mistakes. They blamed divisions between midwives and doctors, saying that the desire for "natural" births - without interventions - sometimes went too far. - The Times