Europe's banks may be asked to accept losses of up to 50% of their holdings in Greek sovereign debt, it emerged yesterday. The call could come after EU leaders gather for a summit on October 23 to forge a once-and-for-all solution to the crisis that has engulfed the eurozone, according to officials in Brussels, the Times reports.Weak European lenders should be barred from paying dividends and bonuses until they move to strengthen their capital buffers, the European Commission's president said yesterday, as he stepped up pressure for co-ordinated action to shore up the banking system ahead of a summit of eurozone leaders this month. Jose Manuel Barroso told the European Parliament that despite "billions of euros in aid and guarantees" since the financial crisis, lenders remained under pressure because of the sovereign debt crisis, the Independent reports.The chief executive of Scottish and Southern has turned on the other 'Big Six' energy suppliers, accusing some rivals of "predatory pricing" that keeps out small competitors. Ian Marchant, who runs the £12.5bn utility company, pledged to stay away from loss-leading tariffs that mean long-term customers are subsidising new ones, says the Telegraph.BP, Transocean and Halliburton, the three companies at the heart of the Deepwater Horizon disaster last year, have been formally charged by the US government with breaches of offshore regulations, in a move that could lead to the first official penalties arising from the accident. The Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the new regulator formed at the start of the month from what had been the old Minerals Management Service, said the three companies had between them breached regulations 15 times, the Financial Times reports.When you next book a ticket with Ryanair, you might want to consider how much liquid you drink before you step on board - because there could be quite a queue for the toilets. Or 'toilet', to be more precise. Ever keen to cut costs and raise revenues, the budget airline has announced plans to remove two of the three lavatories from its planes - a move that it believes will allow space for up to six extra seats, the Daily Mail reports.Angry MPs have accused Britain's top Revenue official of misleading parliament following a deal with Goldman Sachs that allowed the US investment bank to avoid more than £10m in tax penalties. Margaret Hodge, chair of the public accounts committee, claimed someone at HM Revenue & Customs had lied to parliament after leaked documents appeared to show that the refusal by Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at HMRC, to disclose details of the deal was contradicted by advice from his own officials, according to the Guardian.
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