Tuesday newspaper round-up: Banks, Symphony, Brexit

Britain’s biggest banks have lent more than $5bn to the world’s most active commodity traders, raising fears that they could suffer big losses if the falling price of natural resources sparks a crisis at one of the companies. More than half of the leading banks’ exposure to commodities is through loans to Glencore, the debt-laden mining group and commodity trader whose shares have suffered sharp swings since a leading analyst warned that they could be worthless. - The Times

A secure messaging service backed by some of Wall Street’s biggest banks is set to receive an investment from Google in a funding round that values the start-up at $650m. Google will join Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, Wells Fargo and other banks as backers of Symphony, which allows financial firms, corporate customers and individuals to put their digital communications on to one platform - The Times

The government must bring forward the referendum on EU membership to next year or it will risk an accidental Brexit from voters using the poll to take an anti-government line, warns one of Britain’s leading business groups. On Tuesday, the Institute of Directors (IoD) said Britain leaving the EU is “at least a 50-50 possibility”, and will use its annual convention to urge prime minister David Cameron not to wait until 2017 to hold the vote. - The Guardian

China must consign its three decades of “extraordinarily rapid growth” to the past if the economy is to avoid a hard landing, according to the International Monetary Fund. The Fund said downside risks in the world’s second largest economy had risen in recent months, but urged China not to use debt-financed investment to boost growth. - The Daily Telegraph

Revenue at PwC, one of the world’s biggest accountancy firms, exceeded $35bn for the first time as the business added a record number of staff. PwC’s income rose by 10% to $35.4bn for the year to the end of June as the company benefited from global growth, particularly in North America, the Middle East and Africa. The surge led PwC to hire 53,000 new employees, including 24,600 graduates, as its workforce grew by 6% to 208,000, despite fears over the global economy. - The Times

The former JPMorgan banker who co-founded Betfair and the billionaire behind luxury goods group LVMH are selling almost £250m of shares in the betting exchange, just a month after the company agreed a £6bn merger with Paddy Power. Edward Wray and his family are offloading 2.75m shares in the company that he set-up sixteen years ago, which at tonight’s closing price were worth £92.6m. Meanwhile, Le Peigne, which manages money on behalf of LVMH boss Bernard Arnault and his family, is halving its stake in Betfair by selling 4.6m shares that are valued at nearly £155m. - The Daily Telegraph