Sunday newspaper round-up: More 'Nissan' deals, Carney, RBS, HSBC, Capita
Pharmaceuticals giants want the government to plug a £1bn-a-year funding gap that will be created when Britain leaves the EU, as part of a list of demands being drawn up by big business after last week’s deal with Nissan. After the Japanese car maker said it would make two new models at its Sunderland plant — safeguarding nearly 7,000 jobs — after receiving written assurances about post-Brexit trading arrangements from business secretary Greg Clark, other big employers from key sectors are now using Nissan’s perceived sweetheart deal as leverage to ask for their own favours. - Sunday Times
Nissan was told the UK was seeking an EU deal that would mean no tariffs for car manufacturers and no bureaucratic impediments to trading, Greg Clark, the business secretary, has revealed. Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Clark said he wrote to Nissan with a series of four assurances as he went “all out” to allay concerns about Brexit and convince the company to build its next two models in Sunderland. - Guardian
Ardent supporters of Britain's vote to leave the EU believe they are on the verge of another victory by forcing Mark Carney to resign as governor of the Bank of England before the end of his term in 2018. Mr Carney has said he will announce before the end of the year his “personal” decision of whether to serve a full eight-year term until 2021 or leave after five. - Financial Times
Mark Carney could announce a decision about whether to step down as governor of the Bank of England in 2018 as soon as Thursday, amid a barrage of criticism from Eurosceptic MPs about his approach to Brexit. It is understood the governor is considering making an announcement on Thursday at a press conference for the Bank’s third-quarter inflation report, given the speculation about his future. - Observer
Bosses at Royal Bank of Scotland believe the lender will be cleared of the most serious allegations levelled at its Global Restructuring Group in a matter of weeks but fear a legal battle over its 2008 cash call could last until 2021. Senior managers at RBS are understood to be confident the City watchdog will dismiss claims the bank’s controversial Global Restructuring Group (GRG) deliberately pushed small businesses into bankruptcy during the financial crisis so that their assets could be acquired at knock-down prices. - Sunday Telegraph
HSBC is in talks with the Bank of England over a deal that could release more than £5bn trapped in its Chinese business. Britain’s largest bank has tabled a proposal to regulators asking for permission to reduce the level of capital held as a buffer against its stake in Bank of Communications, China’s fifth-largest bank. - Sunday Times
Banks will be forced to refer rejected small business customers to alternative lenders under a new programme to be unveiled on Tuesday. Under the Treasury initiative, nine high street banks will be legally required to pass on customers they turn down for business loans to three lending platforms. - Sunday Times
Capita, the FTSE 100 outsourcer, is planning to root out contracts where further investment or cost-cutting is needed as part of a sweeping review of its operations and strategy. The investigation, which will be led by chief executive Andy Parker, is due to be completed by January, when the new chairman Ian Powell is expected to take up his position. - Financial Times
Anglo American is sounding out investors about a multi-billion pound spin-off of its South African operations in an attempt to pacifiy growing pressure from its biggest shareholder to consider a radical break-up. The FTSE-100 giant, which wants to focus on diamonds, platinum and copper, is looking at packaging up its “non-core” thermal coal and iron ore assets in South Africa as it moves into the second stage of a sweeping restructuring. - Sunday Telegraph
The new boss of the City watchdog, and former deputy governor of the Bank of England, has warned that trouble for the British economy following the Brexit vote is “not over yet”. Andrew Bailey, widely seen as a possible successor to Mark Carney as the Bank’s governor, has hit back at critics who have accused the Bank of talking down the economy before the referendum with ill-judged predictions of doom. - Sunday Times
Taxpayers could have to pump hundreds of millions of pounds of extra cash into repairing Britain’s train tracks, after Network Rail begged the Treasury for a bailout. The state-owned company, which is governed by strict rules on its spending, has warned ministers that it faces a looming funding shortfall. Reliability could even be at risk unless the cash is found, it has claimed. - Sunday Times
Gocompare is expected to debut on the London stock market with a value of around £400 million this week as it splits from the insurance group Esure. The price comparison site, best known for its operatic Gio Compario advertising, will list on Thursday following a shareholder vote. - Sunday Telegraph
One of Britain’s fastest-growing life sciences companies is in talks to build a huge warehouse in the Netherlands, to avoid export tariffs in the event of a “hard” Brexit. Clinigen, which buys cast-off drugs from big pharmaceutical companies and tries to find alternative uses for them, will build the facility if Britain does not negotiate single market access to the European Union. - Sunday Times
Hewden, the heavy machinery rental firm, has launched a last-ditch search for fresh backers amid a sudden cash crunch and looming debt repayments. The company, whose yellow diggers and cherry picker platforms are a familiar site on building projects across the country, needs fresh funds after a sudden downturn in trading squeezed its cash reserves. - Sunday Telegraph
A pack of aggressive American hedge funds has launched a raid on House of Fraser, buying into the department store’s bonds amid fears over its trading. Apollo Global Management, based in New York, is understood to be among the so-called distressed debt funds that have bought slices of the bonds in recent weeks. - Sunday Times
Taxpayers will pick up the bill should the cost of storing radioactive waste produced by Britain’s newest nuclear power station soar, according to confidential documents which the government has battled to keep secret for more than a year. The papers confirm the steps the government took to reassure French energy firm EDF and Chinese investors behind the £24bn Hinkley Point C plant that the amount they would have to pay for the storage would be capped. - Observer
The British arm of McDonald’s paid £123m for “franchise rights” last year, as part of a controversial structure that is under investigation for enabling unfair tax avoidance. The European Commission launched a probe last year into whether Luxembourg’s tax arrangements for McDonald’s amounted to illegal state aid, as part of a broad crackdown on companies that route money through subsidiaries to cut their global tax bills. - Sunday Telegraph
The Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk, has unveiled new energy products aimed at illustrating the benefits of combining his firm, which makes electric cars and batteries, with solar installer SolarCity. The billionaire entrepreneur showed off solar roof tiles that eliminate the need for traditional panels and a longer-lasting home battery, which Tesla calls the Powerwall, aimed at realising his vision of selling a fossil fuel-free lifestyle to consumers. - Observer
China’s detention of Crown Resort employees could have implications for the global gaming industry, Australian foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, says. “It may well be part of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign involving government officials,” she told ABC TV on Sunday. “I am sure every casino operator around the world is watching this case closely."
Rob Terry, the controversial businessman behind scandal-hit former insurance outsourcer Quindell, is using his investment vehicle to develop a vineyard making English sparkling wine. Quob Park Estate (QPE), a fund that Mr Terry has opened up to retail investors, is leasing the Hampshire vineyard from Quob Park Limited, a company controlled by Mr Terry, for £18,000 a year and a share of future profits. - Sunday Telegraph
The cigarette filter maker Essentra has poached the boss of one of the world’s biggest zip manufacturers to spearhead its turnaround after two profit warnings. The FTSE 250 industrial conglomerate is believed to be close to appointing Paul Forman, the boss of Coats, as its new chief executive. - Sunday Times
Business groups, unions and professionals from across the UK have called on the government to launch an all-out offensive to boost productivity, demanding a swathe of new policies from infrastructure investment to extra staff training, and open access to the UK for skilled foreign workers. The proposals came in dozens of submissions on the UK’s industrial strategy to the newly created Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee (BEIS). - Sunday Telegraph
Property, outsourcing and travel businesses blamed the Brexit vote for disappointing third-quarter results, as the number of profit warnings by British companies edged up. A total of 68 warnings were issued in the three months to the end of September, two more than in the previous quarter but fewer than in the same period last year, the report by the consultancy EY showed. - Sunday Times
Profit warnings at UK-listed companies have fallen, as the sharp drop in the pound after the EU referendum became “a help rather than a hindrance”. A study by the accountancy giant Ernst & Young found 68 UK-quoted companies warned on profits in the three months after the Brexit vote, 11 fewer than the same period in 2015 but two more than in the previous quarter. - Sunday Telegraph
Soho House, the private members club business popular with celebrities and socialites, has had an injection of £40m to finance more expansion after a year of increased operating losses. The American billionaire Ron Burkle, whose Yucaipa group of companies bought a 60pc stake in the business, has led a £21.2m equity financing round alongside fellow shareholders Richard Caring and Nick Jones. - Sunday Telegraph
Matalan has parted with one of its clothing manufacturers amid suggestions of friction over pricing between the retailer’s board and its supply base. The discount chain, which has 226 stores, is understood to have severed ties with JJ Global, a longstanding supplier based in Korea. - Sunday Times