Wednesday newspaper round-up: Bank of England, Protectionism, Listings

The central bank must focus on both financial stability and inflation. To concentrate just on the latter could turn into a dangerous distraction. In particular, officials must watch against excessive risk-taking amidst an environment of predictably low interest rates, as occurred before the last financial crisis, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said in a speech on Tuesday night. For that reason, in parallel Carney announced changes to the composition of the Monetary Policy Committee, including the naming of an outsider to the post of Deputy Governor and changes in various posts meant to shake-up the decision making process at the monetary authority, The Scotsman writes. A significant part of the UK financial services industry's total tax contribution to Britain, about £25bn out of a total of £65bn, may be at risk as a result of increasingly protectionist financial regulations both in Europe and the UK, according to a report from TheCityUK. More and more, the new rules are asking that trading should be conducted within national borders instead of via international hubs, such as the City. Worse even, Britain stands to lose up to 200,000 jobs as a result of those same new rules, The Times reports. AS Watson, the Hong Kong firm behind Superdrug and The Perfume Shop, is planning a London listing in the latest wave of floats, according to reports. The firm is owned by tycoon Li Ka-Shing, the richest man in Asia and the owner, amongst other assets, of London's electricity grid and Northumbrian Water. The flotation could reportedly raise £3.6bn in funds, The Daily Mail writes. Broadband provider TalkTalk has unveiled a raft of price increases across its product range, alongside the addition of new Sky channels to its Plus TV package. In fact, as of May its customers may now have to fork out up to £42 more per year for its broadband and TV packages. This is the second price rise announced in six months. Its popular Essentials TV package and its low-cost SimplyBroadband deal will now be £1 a month dearer for users of those services. All line rental customers will see their charges increase by 55p a month to £15.95, The Guardian says. Legal and General has decided to move into the affordable housing sector as part of its wider strategy in infrastructure. It is to purchase 4,000 units from Places for People for approximately £252m. In turn, that company will deploy those funds towards the construction of 7,000 new housing units over the next seven years. For its part, the insurance giant obtains long-term returns which match up well with the long-term liabilities in its pensions business, The Daily Express says. Do-it-yourself investors stand to gain hundreds of pounds a year from reduced charges as fund managers and fund supermarkets are forced to provide greater transparency on what they charge. Now, instead of charging the customer together, without revealing what each part makes, they must each do so separately, The Daily Mail writes.AB