Friday newspaper round-up: Brexit, BP, HMRC, tax evasion

The British economy will be weaker, its international influence will be reduced and the EU will be damaged if the UK votes to leave the bloc in June, the White House said on Thursday. Speaking ahead of a visit to the UK next week by Barack Obama, senior administration officials insisted that the Brexit decision was one for British voters and that the US president would offer his views as a “friend” only if asked during his two days in London. – Financial Times

Brussels has stepped up its efforts to finalise antitrust charges related to the Android mobile operating system, advancing a case which is set to sharply escalate the stand-off between the EU and Google. Four lawyers involved in the case said on Thursday that the European Commission had, over recent days, sent out requests for information from complainants with 24-hour deadlines. – Financial Times

BP has moved to appease disgruntled investors, promising that it will overhaul the way its pays its most senior directors after almost 60pc of shareholders who voted did so against its highly criticised remuneration report. The pay revolt, stemming from the £14m chief executive Bob Dudley was awarded for 2015, was the biggest to date in the current annual general meeting season. - Telegraph

HM Revenue & Customs has no clear plan to tackle tax fraud and has made “only limited progress” in reducing the sums lost to fraudsters as it grapples with a huge restructuring, according to a scathing report by politicians. The Public Accounts Committee said that beneath HMRC’striumphant statements about the rise in overall tax receipts in recent years, the amount of tax lost to fraud has barely shifted, making up about 3pc of expected collections over the past five years. – Telegraph

Britain and its European allies have announced new “hammer blow” rules against tax evasion in direct response to the Panama Papers leak that exposed how the world’s richest and most powerful people hide their wealth from the taxman. George Osborne announced on Thursday, in partnership with his counterparts from France, Germany, Spain and Italy, new rules that will lead to the automatic sharing of information about the true owners of complex shell companies and overseas trusts. – Guardian

China’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2016 to 6.7%, largely in line with expectations, but at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis, sparking hope growth may be stabilising. The report showed that the annualized growth rate for the world’s second-largest economy ticked lower from the previous quarter’s 6.8%. – Guardian

The future of a British mutual was in doubt for the first time since the run on Northern Rock in 2007 yesterday, after Manchester Building Society wrote to customers warning them to keep balances within the £75,000 limit covered by the official compensation scheme. – The Times