Wednesday newspaper round-up: Bank of England, Lloyds, AstraZeneca

Raising interest rates might be the only effective tool the Bank of England has to cool the housing market, its deputy governor has conceded. Charlie Bean, who retires at the end of June, said that while it was sensible for the Bank to use macro-prudential tools to control rapid price rises and manage financial stability risks, the untested nature of such measures meant interest rate rises could end up being the "only game in town" to deal with an overheating market. - The Daily TelegraphThe UK's biggest mortgage provider, Lloyds Banking Group, has taken radical action to address what it called "inflationary pressures" in London's housing market, tightening requirements for high-value property purchases. The taxpayer-backed bank said on Tuesday that it would not approve mortgages of over £500,000 when consumers are borrowing more than four times their incomes. - The Daily Telegraph Pfizer is scrambling to keep alive its £69.4bn offer for AstraZeneca as the two sides vie for shareholder support in the battle to control the UK drugmaker. AstraZeneca sought to bring a definitive end to Pfizer's pursuit by issuing a statement saying there was no chance of renewed talks leading to an increased bid after it rejected the US company's £55-per-share "final" offer on Monday. - Financial Times Fears have increased that BP will have to increase its $42bn provision to cover costs and compensation for the catastrophic spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 after it lost a court battle in the United States. A federal court of appeal in New Orleans upheld a ruling and found that businesses did not have to prove that they were directly affected when claiming compensation related to the after-effects of the Deepwater Horizon blowout. - The Times EU officials have decided to charge three banks with running a cartel to rig interest rates as German regulators confirmed that they had found evidence of attempts to fix foreign exchange markets. In an unusual act of defiance, HSBC, JP Morgan and Credit Agricole have all refused to settle the case, which relates to an alleged cartel to fix Euribor, the interbank lending rate charged between European banks. - The Times One of America's leading technology companies, which is stretching the boundaries of communications in space and in the bowels of the earth, has been snared by Cobham. The British champion, previously best known as a defence and aerospace electronics and components company, is paying £869m to take over Aeroflex, whose UK assets include part of the British empire of the former Marconi company, which has been testing the next generation of 4G and 5G internet telecommunications. - The TimesAB