BP Share News (BP.)

Lloyds Banking Group plans to create a vehicle to manage thousands of homes that it could then sell or float. The bank, which is heavily exposed to the British residential sector, is thought to be at a fairly advanced stage of setting up a special-purpose vehicle, or "residential asset management platform," the Times reports.Russia's state oil company Rosneft is not prepared to let four oligarchs gatecrash its £10bn deal with BP, after a court granted an injunction halting all talks. The oligarchs, known as Alfa Access Renova, are the existing partners of BP in Russia through a joint venture called TNK-BP. They won a court order on Tuesday temporarily halting BP's deal to swap £5bn of shares with Rosneft, claiming that the alliance breaches an earlier agreement they had with the British company. "They have neither the technology, nor the experience, nor the personnel," said Peter O'Brien, Rosneft's chief financial officer, the Telegraph reports.Irish central bank data showed losses of €40bn (£34bn) in deposits from the key banks in December, compared with €27bn a month earlier. Over the past year Irish lenders have haemorrhaged €110bn, equal to 60pc of gross national product, the Telegraph reports.The prospects of a marriage combining steely German success with French panache has long been the subject of saloon car chatter. But while the big day may still be some way off, the relationship is getting stronger: BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroën announced yesterday that they are to join forces to produce hybrid electric cars, reports the Times.Rupert Murdoch yesterday launched The Daily, the first newspaper designed for the iPad and other tablet computers, in a $30m gamble to establish a new business model for journalism. For 99 cents (61p) a week, or $39.99 a year (£24.74), iPad users in the US will receive a product offering 360-degree photographs, high-definition video, an audio soundtrack that can be played like a radio, as well as animated graphics and text, says the Times.Government plans to abolish the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and give the Bank of England the key role in regulating the City will not take place until 2013, raising concerns about the impact this will have on retaining staff and policing markets. Despite hoping to have the three new bodies that will regulate the financial sector operating in 2012, it is becoming clear that it will take longer to get legislation through parliament, the Guardian reports.The Bank of England may be forced to raise interest rates if commodity prices continue to rise, the deputy governor, Charles Bean, has warned. In the face of global pressures, including rising food prices, metals and other commodities at record highs, and oil breaking through the $100 mark in response to concerns over stability in the Middle East, the MPC may be forced to raise rates regardless of the danger to the nascent recovery, the Independent reports. The consumer protection watchdog has launched an investigation into the fast-growing electronic book market, over claims that pricing deals between publishers and retailers may have breached competition rules. The move follows a similar inquiry launched in the US last year. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) revealed it had opened an investigation "into arrangements between certain publishers and retailers for the sale of e-books" following a "significant number" of complaints, says the Independent.The Scottish Parliament has overturned plans to implement a controversial new tax on large stores that would have cost the retail industry an estimated £30m. The so-called "Scottish Large Retailer Levy" would have been applied to all stores with a rateable value over £750,000 and would have increased business rates bills by 30pc for some individual stores, reports the Telegraph.US bankers awarded themselves an inflation-busting pay rise last year - in a move set to widen the rift between Wall Street and Main Street. Staff at America's top 25 financial firms shared a record salary and bonus pool of more than £83bn - up from £79bn in 2009, a survey has found. The 6% hike in take-home pay compares with the paltry 1% increase in revenues across the industry, suggesting that US financiers are pocketing an ever-larger slice of the spoils, the Daily Mail reports.