Tuesday newspaper round-up: Brexit transition, hiring, Rio Tinto, Glencore

Philip Hammond has conceded that there is likely to be a transition period after formally leaving the European Union in 2019 to ease Britain’s exit. The chancellor said that a temporary arrangement following the two years of Article 50 negotiations was in both the UK and the EU’s interest to protect businesses from a sudden, damaging rupture in trade relations. - The Times

Employers across the UK have shrugged off economic uncertainty from the Brexit vote, reporting the most optimistic outlook on hiring plans in three years. Manpower, one of the top recruitment companies in the UK, said companies had returned to a “business as usual” approach to hiring after a pause in plans after the EU referendum.

BP needs to spend $170m on improvements, according to an internal investigation into safety monitoring. Despite tough new safety procedures introduced in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the oil colossus has twice come close to further potentially lethal accidents. - Financial Times

Rio Tinto was faced with a fresh complication in its corruption row in Guinea yesterday after a rival said that it planned to sue for damages. BSG Resources, the company controlled by Beny Steinmetz, the Israeli diamond tycoon, fired the opening shots in a legal action against Rio over BSGR’s loss of part of the Simandou concession, a iron ore deposit that is believed to be the world’s largest untapped source. - The Times

The European Commission has joined the US authorities in confirming it will scrutinise Glencore’s shock deal to buy a stake in Russian oil giant Rosneft. The FTSE 100 company, led by Ivan Glasenberg, stunned the City last week with a €10.2bn (£8.6bn) deal to take a 19.5pc stake in Rosneft alongside the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA). - Telegraph

The International Monetary Fund has hit back at claims that it is demanding more austerity in Greece, as the Fund warned that the country's ambitious budget targets were "simply not credible". Firing a broadside at Brussels and Athens, Maurice Obstfeld, the IMF's chief economist, and Poul Thomsen, director of the IMF's European department, said cuts to investment and discretionary spending had "gone too far" and would prevent the Greek economy from recovering. - Telegraph

The £70bn-a year British car industry has made the case for government backing as the UK exits Europe at a high-powered summit. The meeting came in the wake of the controversial “sweetheart” deal Nissan secured from the government to keep investing in its giant Sunderland. - Telegraph

British motorists are facing a “bleak mid-winter” as the AA warned that petrol prices were set to rise after a 5 per cent jump in the price of crude oil yesterday. A deal struck in Vienna last weekend between Russia and a string of other exporters to trim output by more than half a million barrels a day sent prices soaring, triggering inflation fears. - The Times

The majority owner of Agent Provocateur has hired KPMG to investigate various “accounting issues” that have been uncovered during a boardroom reshuffle at the lingerie retailer. 3i, the private equity group, has instructured KPMG to review how the retailer’s filed accounts were put together and how issues, thought to include an overstatement of profits, came about. - The Times