The Bank of England has warned Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland that they could face penalties from Brussels if there was an extension of the special funding scheme put in place during the financial crisis.The Bank believes that such an extension could break European Union state aid rules, because it would primarily help the two state-controlled banks rather than the banking sector, the Times says.BP, the embattled oil company, has confirmed that a test on the cementing operation needed to plug its leak in the Gulf of Mexico had been successful. The company said that tests had indicated that there was an effective cement plug in the blown-out pipe, "which was the desired outcome". The success - almost four months after the catastrophic leak started - came after an earlier procedure known as 'static kill' was launched to stem the flow of oil. That process involved filling the pipe with mud and cement from the top, the Telegraph reports.The price of barley, an important feed grain for the European livestock industry, has more than doubled in six weeks in response to the drought affecting Russia and Ukraine, prompting fears of increases in the cost of meat and poultry. European feed barley has risen to €210 a tonne, up 130 per cent from €90 a tonne in mid-June. Traders said feed barley was trading at par with milling wheat, an unusual situation, the FT reports.New US whistleblowing incentives within the Dodd-Frank financial reform act - that could net informants multimillion dollar pay-outs - are likely to generate a surge in allegations against US-listed companies and Wall Street banks, lawyers say. The Securities and Exchange Commission is expecting a sharp increase in tip-offs from senior employees and third parties prompted by potential seven-figure bounties, the FT reports.More than 370,000 small shareholders in International Power are set to receive an average of about £350 in cash as a result of a partial takeover by GDF, which is expected to be announced tomorrow. The French power group will pay a cash sweetener of about £1.4bn, or 90p a share, to seal the deal, which should be unveiled alongside both groups' half-year results, the Times reports.Many of Britain's biggest companies face a "material risk" from the size of their pension deficits, with 10 members of the FTSE 100 weighed down by pension liabilities that are greater than their market value. The total pension deficit of the FTSE 100 was an estimated £73bn at the end of June, according to research by Pension Capital Strategies (PCS), a division of insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson. That is a £17bn improvement on a year earlier, the Telegraph reports.The number of employers planning to shed workers has leapt back up to levels last seen in the depths of the recession, according to a survey to be published today. As the Chancellor's austerity plans begin to bite, a third of bosses expect to cut jobs this autumn, up from 29 per cent in the spring and 26 per cent last winter, says a quarterly labour market outlook from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the accountancy KPMG, the Times reports.Graduates face paying thousands of pounds more for their degrees after the Government announced that a tax on future earnings was its preferred option for university funding. David Willetts, the Tory minister responsible for higher education, cleared the way for the levy and headed off a coalition split when he confirmed that the independent review into funding was being encouraged to look at ways of raising more from graduates, the Times reports.Cuts to investment in Britain's rail network will put economic growth at risk, business leaders have warned the Government. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and smaller local chambers from across the UK have written to Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, and Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, to warn them against making "hasty and ill-conceived cuts", the Telegraph reports.Key energy and planning reforms must be delivered by the Government within six months or it risks missing targets for reducing carbon emissions and improving energy security, business leaders will warn today. Uncertainty about the planning regime is making investors wary of committing to new energy projects and possibly jeopardising supplies, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says, the Independent reports.Mortgage fraud has nearly quadrupled in the first six months of 2010, KPMG's "fraud barometer" has found, with incidents of deception involving home loans reaching a 22-year high. The accountancy firm's figures show there were 21 cases of mortgage fraud in the first half of 2010 with a value of £96m, compared to just 18 worth £24m during the same period last year. In fact, the figure for the whole of 2009 was just £77m, the Independent reports.
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