3i Group Share News (III)

HM Revenue & Customs is considering plans to deduct tax directly from workers' pay packets before salaries reach their bank accounts.There was widespread incredulity last night that HMRC, which has come under fire for its handling of the Pay as You Earn fiasco, had included a proposal in a discussion paper in which it ? rather than employers ? would determine workers' tax payments, the Times reports.Nando's, the chain of peri-peri chicken restaurants, is poised to take over the Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Real Greek brands in a deal worth more than £40 million, The Times has learnt. The group, which is controlled by by the Enthoven family, of South Africa, through their Capricorn Ventures International vehicle, is understood to be close to unveiling a recommended bid for Clapham House, the quoted owner of GBK and Real Greek, worth 74p a share, the Times reports.Britain's recovery hopes have suffered a sharp setback after surprisingly weak retail sales figures provided damning evidence that consumers are tightening their belts ahead of the Government's austerity measures. A collapse in high street sales for August and stark warnings from some of the nation's leading retailers sparked fresh talk of a double-dip recession, the Telegraph reports.The full impact of the new global bank capital rules announced at the weekend is likely to be 30% tougher than the headline ratio suggests, according to regulators and industry participants who have studied private banking data. The data submitted to the committee suggest the real impact of the change could be equivalent to raising the minimum capital requirement from 2% to 10% for many banks, the FT reports.JP Morgan, the US investment bank, is set to ditch plans to build a new European headquarters at London's Canary Wharf, and instead move into Lehman Brothers' old skyscraper in the Docklands financial district. Property sources say the bank is ready to abandon its stalled £1.5bn project and relocate into the huge building that was occupied by Lehman, until its spectacular demise two years ago, the Independent reports.Millions of British households face the threat of another Winter of Discontent with piles of rotting rubbish in the streets after binmen warned of strike action over job and pay cuts. Unions said workers will be asked to vote for a strike unless Veolia, which collects bins and recycles waste for councils across the country including Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool and 16 London boroughs, drops its plans, the Telegraph reports.Aer Lingus has effectively put itself up for sale with the Irish Government indicating it will offload its one-quarter stake in the loss-making airline. Industry insiders said that Aer Lingus had held informal talks with a number of rival carriers and told them that the Irish Government would sell its shares if a partner were found, the Times reports.Standard Chartered is pressing ahead with contingency plans to relocate abroad and avoid the increasing burden of regulations and taxes in Britain. The board has discussed the issue in depth at several meetings and has a team working on the feasibility of a move to the Far East or elsewhere, the Times reports.The United States yesterday stepped up pressure on the Chinese Government to revalue its currency, which it said was still significantly undervalued", but stopped short of openly threatening trade sanctions. In his strongest words yet on America's long-running dispute with China over the value of its currency, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the Obama administration was now examining ways to persuade Beijing to move faster in strengthening the value of the renminbi, or yuan, against the dollar, the Times reports.The Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR) economic forecasting services should be made available to opposition parties, the incoming head of the Government's new fiscal watchdog has recommended. Robert Chote told the Treasury Select Committee (TSC) at his pre-appointment hearing that the OBR's prized independence would be best served by allowing it to respond to requests from other political parties, the Telegraph reports.A new photonic chip that works on light rather than electricity has been built by an international research team, paving the way for the production of ultra-fast quantum computers with capabilities far beyond today's devices. Future quantum computers will, for example, be able to pull important information out of the biggest databases almost instantaneously. As the amount of electronic data stored worldwide grows exponentially, the technology will make it easier for people to search with precision for what they want, the FT reports.3i is expected to unveil a shake-up of its private equity business, triggering the departure of one of its best-known dealmakers. The restructuring of 3i's operations will see the London-listed group merge its growth capital team, which takes minority interests in companies, with its buy-out team, which acquires controlling stakes. As a result of the changes, Jonathan Russell has decided to leave 3i after more than 24 years at the company, the FT reports.BC Partners is in talks to buy back some debt in Foxtons in an extraordinary reversal after the private equity firm lost control of the estate agency last year.BC has entered into talks with Bank of America Merrill Lynch to acquire some of the debt that the bank holds in Foxtons after a debt for equity restructuring in 2009, according to people familar with the matter. One person added Mizuho was also in talks to sell some of its debt interest in Foxtons to BC, the FT reports.