Tuesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Yellen, Italy, Grant Thornton

Theresa May faces a frantic 48 hours to try to save her Brexit negotiating strategy after she admitted talks had ground to a halt because of the EU’s insistence upon a Northern Ireland-only backstop. The prime minister is expected to plead with EU leaders to drop their Irish backstop proposal at a make-or-break summit dinner on Wednesday night after seeking the support of members of her cabinet on Tuesday morning. - Guardian

Eight Cabinet ministers with concerns about Theresa May's Brexit plans attended a "pizza summit" in the Commons amid mounting pressure on the Prime Minister. Andrea Leadsom, the Leader of the Commons and one of the most significant critics of the Prime Minister's customs union backstop, hosted the meeting in her Commons office on Monday evening, which was also attended by Dominic Raab, the Brexit Secretary; Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary; Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary; and Penny Mordaunt, the International Development Secretary. - Telegraph

Restricting tax breaks on pension saving for the higher paid could save the exchequer £11 billion a year but would be “a step in the wrong direction”, a leading fiscal think tank has warned as it set out potential measures that the chancellor could adopt to tap the better off and the elderly. Philip Hammond last week raised expectations of another reduction in pension tax relief in his budget this month after saying that the £39 billion bill was “eye-wateringly expensive.” - The Times

Janet Yellen has criticised President Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve and warned that they could undermine financial stability. Ms Yellen said she was concerned that the US economy was overheating and said that the Fed had a “tricky task” to prevent it doing so. - The Times

Nervous Italians are starting to funnel money across the border into Switzerland, worried that an epic clash with the EU could set off a Greek-style banking crisis and a slide towards default. “There is fear creeping in,” said Massimo Gionso, head of family wealth managers CFO Sim in Milan. - Telegraph

Angela Merkel’s grand coalition is at risk of collapsing after both her junior partners in government suffered heavy electoral losses in Bavaria. Senior Social Democrats have urged their party to quit the government and reinvent itself in opposition after a dismal performance in which it finished fifth, behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). - The Times

The chief executive at one of Britain’s biggest accountants has stepped down weeks after insisting that she would stand for re-election despite disquiet among some senior partners at her leadership. Grant Thornton said that Sacha Romanovitch would leave the firm this year, having decided against putting herself up for election for a second term. - The Times

HSBC is leading a wave of British institutions from the City to the High Street which plan to pour hundreds of millions of pounds into cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The banking giant unveiled plans to invest around £250m in wind and solar power parks, alongside a swathe of green pledges from another 30 companies including Amazon, BT and John Lewis Partnership. - Telegraph

Asylum seekers blocked from working in the UK could make a net contribution of £42m to the economy if restrictive rules were lifted, in a move that would have overwhelming public support, a new coalition group has said. - Guardian

Harris Corporation and L3 Technologies are to combine in the largest merger in the defence industry, creating a $33.5 billion provider of military communications systems. The merger of equals will create one of the ten largest defence companies by sales and the sixth largest in the United States at a time when President Trump is seeking to boost Pentagon budgets. - The Times

Facebook will no longer allow British political groups to publish “dark ads” on its network, in an attempt to restore public trust after the Cambridge Analytica scandal and questions over its influence on the Brexit referendum. Political advertisers will also be required to prove their identity, as the social network launches a set of tools to ensure transparency before local elections next year. - Guardian

President Macron’s government has denounced Ford, the US carmaker, as indefensible for planning to shut a gearbox factory near Bordeaux despite an offer from a French group to buy the plant. Bruno Le Maire, the economy minister, led the charge, saying that he had contacted Steven Mnuchin, President Trump’s treasury secretary, to complain about Ford’s decision to close the Blanquefort factory with the loss of 847 jobs. - The Times

Contactless payments are now more popular than chip and pin card transactions when people pay in UK stores, according to the payments technology company Worldpay. The company, which processes payments for large retailers as well as small businesses, said it was the first time it had seen “tap and go” contactless payments overtake chip and pin. - Guardian

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is opening new offices in Dublin as part of the company’s contingency planning for a hard Brexit. The company, one of the largest members of the blockchain ecosystem, says that London will remain its European headquarters, but that Dublin’s EU membership, as well as its English-speaking workforce and diverse technology talent pool, made it the “clear choice” for a second European outpost. - Guardian