Wednesday newspaper round-up: Barclays, challenger banks, China data

The Government has taken the rare move of fast-tracking a full investigation into BHS’s former directors as Sir Philip Green yesterday agreed to appear before MPs in return for saving his wife’s blushes. Business Secretary Sajid Javid has taken the unusual step of accelerating an inquiry by the Insolvency Service into the retailer’s collapse, rather than wait three months for administrators to conclude their own investigation.

Challenger banks face a bumpier ride and some are likely to be squeezed by rising competition, a report has warned. Despite notching up a more impressive record on growth, costs and conduct issues than their bigger rivals, challengers are about to have a tougher time, particularly the larger members of the pack, according to KPMG. - The Times

Barclays has become the first high street bank since the financial crisis to launch a 100 per cent mortgage in the latest sign of a return to riskier lending. The bank is allowing some buyers to take out a mortgage to 100 per cent of the value of the property, without needing a deposit, whereas most banks require at least a 5-10 per cent lump sum. - Financial Times

A Chinese government crackdown on the sale of data from its sprawling statistics agencies has prompted a marked deterioration in the numbers that investors rely on to understand the world’s second-largest economy. In recent months, executives searching for figures on China’s petroleum exports or wind power output have noticed growing gaps in the numbers, with some data released later than expected or missing entirely. That has made it harder to assess the state of the broader economy and the many industries in which the country has become the dominant producer or buyer of raw materials. - Financial Times

Water shortages will deliver a “severe hit” to the economies of the Middle East, central Asia, and Africa by the middle of the century, taking double digits off their GDP, the World Bank warned. By 2050, growing demand for cities and for agriculture would put water in short supply in regions where it is now plentiful – and worsen shortages across a vast swath of Africa and Asia, spurring conflict and migration, the bank said. - Guardian

Riyadh has unveiled reforms to its stock market designed to boost foreign investment and pave the way for the flotation of Saudi Aramco, the giant state-controlled oil producer. The reforms to Saudi Arabia’s $400 billion bourse, the Tadawul, include permitting short-sellers, a first for a Gulf state, and relaxing tight restrictions on foreign ownership of Saudi companies. - The Times

Privatising Channel 4 would have an “overwhelmingly negative” impact on the creative industries and bring in a maximum of £500m to the Exchequer, a report for the broadcaster has argued. It rejected claims made by the Culture Secretary John Whittingdale that Channel 4’s self-funded but taxpayer-owned model is under threat from the shift of young viewers to internet streaming, saying that “the rate of change is less than suggested by the hype”. - Telegraph

Doubts about the controversial EU-US trade pact are mounting after the French president threatened to block the deal. François Hollande said on Tuesday he would reject the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) “at this stage” because France was opposed to unregulated free trade. - The Guardian

The European Investment Bank spent almost €20 billion supporting credit provision for small and medium-sized companies last year, but British entrepreneurs didn’t see a penny of it. The UK was the only country in the European Union not to receive any funds, a report by the bank shows, while Germany, Spain, Italy and France received a combined €14.4 billion. - The Times

The chief executive of O2 has compared the UK telecoms market to that of Venezuela, in an attack on regulators over their opposition to the mobile operator’s merger with rival Three. Ronan Dunne launched a broadside at Ofcom over its management of the mobile industry after it lobbied against the £10.25bn takeover of O2 by Hutchison, the owner of Three. - Telegraph

Some of the largest food producers in the US have successfully petitioned Congress to propose a change to the Freedom of Information Act that would shield their communications with boards overseen by the US Department of Agriculture from the scrutiny of the public. The move follows a series of stories that showed the government-backed egg promoter, the American Egg Board, had attempted to stifle competition from Silicon Valley food startup Hampton Creek, in direct conflict with its mandate. - Guardian

The UN has urged governments to stem the flow of funds to tax havens after companies funnelled $221bn (£152bn) into countries with low tax rates last year. The Netherlands and Luxembourg were among the top destinations for funds from corporations seeking to avoid tax, along with the US, Britain, Switzerland and Ireland, according to the UN. - Guardian

Alphabet’s search for an automotive partner to develop self-driving vehicles finally bore fruit on Tuesday when Google’s parent company said it would work with Fiat Chrysler to trial its systems in a new minivan. The deal marks the culmination of months of work by the technology company, which has acknowledged that it needs more automotive industry expertise to work out how to integrate its autonomous systems with a vehicle. - Financial Times