Sunday's newspaper round-up: Lloyds, RBS, cash-calls

Sir Victor Blank is believed to be close to stepping down as chairman of Lloyds Banking Group following pressure from investors furious about the bank's rescue of HBOS, says the Independent on Sunday.The City regulator has fired the opening shot in its inquiry into the crisis that engulfed Britain's banks last year by appointing PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to investigate the conduct of former board directors of Royal Bank of Scotland, according the Sunday Telegraph.Three property companies - Great Portland Estates, Shaftesbury and Big Yellow - are preparing to raise a combined total of £330m to snap up bargain buildings during the recession, says the Sunday Times.The Sunday Telegraph says David Ross, the flamboyant co-founder of the Carphone Warehouse, is to spend about £250,000 on buying new shares in Big Yellow Group, which will unveil plans for a £25m fund-raising.BT will reclaim bonuses handed to executives who fail to meet performance targets in the wake of the crisis at its corporate services arm, says the Sunday Telegraph.In contrast, the Sunday Times say the top 60 managers at Cable & Wireless will this summer split a £60m bonus pot, handing the key architect of its three-year turnaround, John Pluthero, almost £10m. BA will this week unveil one of its worst sets of results since privatisation in 1987, when it discloses huge losses as the slump hammers sales of lucrative transatlantic tickets and first-class seats, says the Observer.Dame Clara Furse, the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, will give the ailing firm's full year figures for the final time this week after eight years at the helm, says the Independent on Sunday.Sir Stuart Rose, chairman and chief executive of Marks & Spencer, and his board meet tomorrow afternoon to decide whether the high street retailer should cut its dividend amid growing City unrest over its performance ahead of full-year results on Tuesday, reports the Independent on Sunday.Yell, the owner of Yellow Pages, will this week take a hit of almost £1 billion on the value of its Spanish business, pushing the classified telephone directories firm deep into the red, says the Sunday Times.Clive Cowdery, the zombie fund insurance entrepreneur, is believed to be eyeing some or all of the assets he sold last year to his rival, Hugh Osmond, according to the Independent on Sunday.Meanwhile, the Sunday Times says Hugh Osmond is to lose up to £200m of his paper fortune through the restructuring of his Pearl Group insurance empire.ITV has received approaches from bidders interested in snapping up Friends Reunited, the social networking business, reports the Sunday Telegraph.Barclays Capital is believed to have had talks with Execution Limited, the City brokerage founded by Nick Finegold, former head of equity sales and trading at Deutsche Bank, over a possible takeover of the firm, writes the Independent on Sunday.Independent News & Media is close to a pact with its bondholders which would give it a month to reorganise its debt, writes the Sunday Telegraph.An investment firm that has previously backed both Pizza Express and Loch Fyne fish restaurants is the mystery bidder for Carluccio's, the chain of Italian eateries. Hutton Collins has been working on plans to take AIM-listed Carluccio's private for several weeks, reports the Sunday Times.Travelport, the $2.5bn (£1.7bn) turnover travel technology group owned by private equity giant Blackstone, is to move its headquarters from New York to London this autumn, reports the Independent on Sunday.Companies hit by the loss of credit insurance from the private sector trio of Euler Hermes, Atradius and Coface, have snubbed the Government's £5bn replacement scheme two weeks after it was introduced, says the Independent on Sunday.The business empire of Robert Tchenguiz has been hit with a £180m lawsuit after preventing Kaupthing, the failed Icelandic bank, from seizing control of its proceeds from the sale of Somerfield, says the ObserverRichard Branson is to launch an internet bank in a move designed to exploit public disgust with Britain's big banks in the wake of the credit crunch, reports the Observer.A controversial American billionaire who made his fortune buying failed US companies is trying to acquire bankrupt Swedish carmaker Saab. Wall Street veteran Ira Rennert faces competition in his efforts to save the company, with Fiat and Swedish sports car manufacturer Koenigsegg also on the short list, reports the Sunday Times.France's EDF Energy has appointed Deutsche Bank to auction the biggest electricity distribution network in Britain, says the Sunday Times.Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs is preparing to pay back the $10 billion (£6.6 billion) in crisis money it borrowed from the American government, according to the Sunday Times.