CSLT.L Share News (CSLT)

Businesses have condemned an "appalling" £1bn a year green stealth tax that will add 11% to the energy bills of British companies. About 5,000 large and medium-sized companies with bills of more than £500,000 per year will be hit by the new tax. George Osborne, the Chancellor, did not mention the levy in his spending cuts speech, but the details were buried in Treasury documents setting out how money will be raised to pay down the deficit, the Telegraph reports. The banking industry appeared to have got off lightly in the spending review even as George Osborne pledged to extract the "maximum sustainable" tax revenue from the sector in the coming years. As the chancellor prepared to announce details of his £2.5bn a year levy on bank balance sheets tomorrow, he won approval in the City for making clear that he was aware of the risks that some firms might leave London if the tax regime was more draconian than in other financial centres, says the Guardian.British Airways cabin crews are to vote on whether to accept the latest deal in the 18-month-long industrial dispute with the company's management. The Unite trade union said the airline's offer was the product of "prolonged negotiations" and would be put to the union's 10,000 cabin crew members "as soon as possible". Neither BA nor Unite has gone public with any details of the latest proposals, the Independent reports.The Takeover Panel is close to unveiling one of the biggest shake-ups in UK dealmaking rules in 20 years, in the wake of Kraft Foods' controversial $17bn hostile takeover of Cadbury. The UK merger watchdog is expected to recommend that the timetable for the "put-up or shut-up" rule - which forces a bidder to make an offer within a certain period or withdraw from the process - is shortened, to protect a target company from disruption to it's day-to-day business, reports the Financial Times.Guy Hands was accused of suing Citigroup over EMI only to protect his fortune and the reputation of Terra Firma, his private equity firm. In the third day of the trial in New York, the UK financier was presented with the transcript of a speech he gave to EMI employees in September 2007 in which he told them "60pc to 70pc of my wealth is dependent on how EMI does," the Telegraph says.A share trader who lost thousands of pounds gambling on stocks and derivatives yesterday had his plea for a reduced Financial Services Authority fine for "financial hardship" thrown out. The FSA said Andre Scerri had pleaded financial hardship after being fined £66,062.50 for market abuse. Scerri had traded on inside knowledge after becoming aware that Amerisure Resources, an oil and gas exploration company, was about to raise cash by issuing new shares at a discounted price, the Independent reports.Cosalt was dealt a blow yesterday after the marine safety equipment provider revealed that it had discovered a £4 million shortfall in the value of its stock and work in progress. The discovery follows an internal review into operating practices at its Aberdeen-based offshore division, which supplies rope and lifeboats to the oil and gas industry, the Times reports.