Monday newspaper round-up: BCC leader, EDF, FCA on banks

John Longworth resigned on Sunday night as director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce after being drawn into a political row over his support for the UK to leave the European Union. The surprise decision illustrates the increasingly febrile atmosphere around the impending referendum on EU membership on June 23. - Financial Times

The chief financial officer of EDF, the French utility, has resigned following an internal disagreement over whether to push ahead next month with the Hinkley Point reactor project in the UK. According to two people familiar with the situation, Thomas Piquemal quit amid concerns that plans to make the final investment decision so soon put the group’s entire financial future in jeopardy. – Financial Times

Big six energy supplier Npower is set to axe 2,500 jobs from its UK business after a dismal 2015 in which it hemorrhaged customers due to a consistently poor service record. Sky News has reported that plans for a 20pc staff cut will be outlined this week, at the same time that its German parent company RWE is expected to report further losses in its full year results. – Telegraph

Increasing female participation in the British labour force to match the level reached in Sweden could add £170bn to the UK economy and boost GDP by 9pc, according to PwC. Six out of 10 women in Sweden are in full-time employment and 13pc work part-time – giving the Scandinavian country one of the highest female employment rates in the OECD – compared to 42pc and 26pc respectively in the UK. – Telegraph

The City’s top regulator has said a new system designed to hold bank executives to account is “not about trying to get heads on sticks”. The new regulatory regime, which came into force on Monday and holds top executives responsible for failures in banks, has been watered down since it was first proposed, though Tracey McDermott, the acting head of the Financial Conduct Authority, insisted it would still have a major impact. – Guardian

Women are likely to earn £300,000 less than men over their working lives, according to a new analysis that has sparked fresh calls for more shared parental leave to close the UK’s stubborn gender pay gap. Before International Women’s Day on Tuesday, figures show a gap of £5,732, or 24%, in average full-time annual salaries between women and men – more than four decades after the Equal Pay Act of 1970 was introduced. – Guardian

The global economy is heading for a storm as faith in policymakers dwindles, according to a stark warning from one of the world’s most respected financial institutions. The uneasy calm in financial markets last year has given way to turbulence, the Bank for International Settlements, known as the central bank for the world’s central banks, said in its latest quarterly report. – The Times

Sir Philip Green is in talks with the owners of BHS over a possible contribution to the struggling chain’s gaping pension deficit, amid fears that 20,000 present and former staff may not receive their full pensions. BHS, which was sold by Sir Philip’s Arcadia Group last year for a nominal £1, announced plans last week to scythe its rent bill as part of a rescue deal with landlords. – The Times