Lloyds Share News (LLOY)

Royal Bank of Scotland is exploring a government-backed plan to give up all of its 312 RBS-branded branches in England and Wales, in a radical move to satisfy Brussels state aid authorities.Officials close to the negotiations say the plan - mediated by the Treasury - is well advanced and is the favoured proposal being considered by Neelie Kroes, EU competition commissioner, though she is thought to want to force RBS to go further, the FT writes.The protracted sale of General Motors' European division, including Vauxhall in the UK, seemed to be drawing to a conclusion last night as union negotiators and ministers celebrated reaching a deal with Vauxhall's new owner, the Canadian car parts maker Magna International. In Britain, at least, there will be no compulsory redundancies. Up to 600 jobs could be lost through voluntary redundancy, but the unions originally feared that at least 1,200 jobs would be cut after GM Europe was formally put up for sale in May, the Independent writes.Goldman Sachs is considering donating in excess of $1bn (£627m) to charity in an attempt to quell the growing furore over the likely size of its 2009 bonus pot.The investment bank, which is set to report its results for the three months to September on Thursday, is understood to be giving serious thought to some form of large philanthropic donation, the Telegraph reports.Lloyds Banking Group has been told by ministers it will have to pay at least £1bn as a form of "break fee" if it proceeds with its plan to leave a scheme to insure £260bn of its assets. The asset protection scheme, agreed in principle in March but yet to be signed off, was to have provided some insurance against losses on the assets for a fee of £15.6bn, the FT reports. The chief executive of Tesco, the nation's largest private employer, has criticised educational standards for failing to prepare teenagers for the workplace. Sir Terry Leahy said that standards in schools were often "woefully low" and that the education system left it to private companies to "pick up the pieces", reports the Times.Paul Polman, the chief executive of Unilever, the world's second largest consumer goods company, has warned the next Government that an oppressive tax regime will deter international businesses from basing themselves in the UK. In what some observers will see as a veiled threat that Unilever, which is based in London and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, could move its headquarters out of the UK, Mr Polman said that the UK tax regime sends an "unfortunate signal" about Britain as a home for businesses, the Telegraph reports.The Government risks losing nearly £100m in revenues if a national postal strike goes ahead next week, which looked increasingly certain last night. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed that if industrial action begins as expected on or after October 22 ? days before an October 31 filing deadline for tax returns ? the Government will be forced to consider waiving a £100 penalty for nearly one million expected late returns, the Times writes. The Serious Organised Crime Agency is looking at the actions of former executives at JJB Sports, it emerged on Tuesday. The sports retailer has already said it is under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading for price fixing, while the Serious Fraud Office is looking at possible deception by former employees.But the involvement of Soca was not revealed until Tuesday, the FT reports.Plans to cut costs at Marks and Spencer and revitalise the high street stalwart disappointed investors, sending its shares down by more than 4%. At its first investor day for a decade, M&S set out plans to save £250m a year from an overhaul of its supply chain and IT systems, as it revealed a raft of initiatives, including taking food sales online at an undisclosed point in the future, the FT reports.