Friday newspaper round-up: Deutsche Bank, tax havens, BoE

Deutsche Bank must pay $14bn to settle a US investigation into its selling of mortgage-backed securities, Germany’s flagship lender has said. The US Department of Justice claim against Deutsche, which the bank said it would dispute strongly, far outstrips the bank’s and investors’ expectations for such costs. – Guardian

Eight British overseas territories and crown dependencies, including Jersey, the British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands, could face EU economic sanctions after Brussels identified them as having low or no corporation tax. Experts have published a scorecard showing red flag warnings set against a list of the 81 countries that may attract companies or individuals seeking to avoid or evade European taxes. - Guardian

The South African giant behind the New Look clothing chain and Virgin Active gyms has signalled it has its eye on more British companies after it revealed it is planning a stock market listing in London and wants to build-up its war-chest. Brait, the £3.1bn investment vehicle backed by retail billionaire Christo Wiese, is seeking to join the prestigious FTSE indices by moving its primary listing the London Stock Exchange. – Telegraph

Strange does not even begin to describe it. The economy has bounced back from its July wobble, and yet the Bank of England seems firmly set on its course of cutting interest rates ever lower. I find its thinking and reasoning to be well-meaning but flawed on a number of levels. Let us take each in turn. The good news is that the Bank has admitted that its forecasts of post-Brexit Armageddon have turned out to be grossly exaggerated and it has revised up its growth forecasts. – Telegraph

European officials have pushed back against British attempts to test secretly what terms are feasible in a Brexit deal, raising fears in London that its opening divorce demands will be set without any realistic guidance from the bloc. Top British diplomats have been sounding out European allies since August on issues including the potential for post-Brexit Britain to curb EU migration while remaining part of the single market, according to several senior officials approached. – Financial Times

Theresa May has signalled the UK will take a tougher approach to the rules governing mergers and acquisitions by examining whether the sale of “critical infrastructure” should be overseen by ministers. The prime minister, announcing that theHinkley Point nuclear power station would go ahead, launched a review of the Enterprise Act 2002. - Financial Times

Interest rates are on track to be cut for a second time before Christmas despite the economy’s surprising resilience since the EU referendum, the Bank of England has signalled. The Bank’s message that stronger growth may not dissuade rate-setters from a second post-Brexit vote cut was made in the minutes to this month’s meeting, when they decided to leave policy unchanged. – The Times