Monday newspaper round-up: Business investment, Betfred, Thomas Cook

(Sharecast News) - Brexit uncertainty and a global economic slowdown amid the US-China trade war has set Britain on course for the most prolonged slump in business investment in 17 years, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). Setting Britain on course for weaker economic growth in future, the lobby group said business spending in the UK was due to decline by 1.5% in 2019 and by 0.1% next year as companies put their investment plans on ice amid the global political turmoil. - Guardian
Bookmaker Betfred, which is owned by billionaire Conservative party donors Fred and Peter Done, underpaid staff and apparently failed to tell them they might be owed money even after it discovered the widespread payment problem. The bookmaker, which employs more than 7,000 people, admitted it had failed to make automatic payments to staff owed extra holiday pay because they had worked overtime. - Guardian

Thomas Cook has secured an extra week to hammer out a £1.1bn rescue deal, as debt speculators pile pressure on the troubled holiday company. A meeting had been scheduled for Wednesday to agree terms but is set to be pushed back until next week as Thomas Cook battles to survive. - Telegraph

The former business secretary Sir Vince Cable has attacked opponents of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing's approach for the London Stock Exchange Group as "bash the Chinese" enthusiasts, describing it as a "perfectly sensible proposition". HKEX made a £32 billion unsolicited approach last week, sparking concerns about Chinese interference in critical market infrastructure and leading to comparisons with the controversy over Huaweii building 5G telecoms networks. Trillions of dollars' worth of trades are made over LSE-owned exchanges. - The Times

The Financial Conduct Authority failed to alert investors when it discovered an alteration to the City regulator's own public register gave the false impression the business of a peer-to-peer platform was regulated. Andrew Bailey, chief executive of the authority, has admitted that Collateral drew in £3.8 million of investors' money in the months after the discovery of a suspected abuse of the register, a public record of regulated companies. - The Times