Wednesday newspaper round-up: Facebook, gambling firms, Tesla, new homes

Facebook’s plans for a global cryptocurrency, Libra, will warrant close scrutiny by governments across the world, according to one of the UK’s most senior financial regulators. Christopher Woolard, the executive director of strategy and competition at the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) highlighted a series of potential issues with the digital currency, from consumer protection and privacy concerns to financial market stability. – Guardian

Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, has called for a mandatory levy on gambling firms to fix the “broken” industry. He said some companies donated “frankly insulting” amounts of money to fund addiction treatment, and the voluntary system needed to be replaced. “The gambling market is broken and it’s up to the government to fix it,” he said in the Commons on Tuesday. “We don’t just need a voluntary patch, we need a full overhaul of the rules and regulations.” – Guardian

Tesla delivered a record 95,200 cars during the second quarter of this year, fulfilling the company's targets and beating analysts' estimates. The California-based electric car firm had said it expected to get 90,000 to 100,000 cars to customers, a target that was described as "aggressive" and that many expected it would miss. – Telegraph

Britain will fall short of its target to build 300,000 new homes a year by 2020 if it continues to rely on traditional building methods, according to MPs. In a report, the Commons housing, communities and local government committee is calling on the government to invest in modern methods of construction that would allow homes to be built more quickly and cheaply. – The Times

The estimated bill for decommissioning Britain’s North Sea oil and gas infrastructure has been cut by almost £9 billion in two years, but it is still expected to cost £51 billion, according to official estimates. The Oil & Gas Authority said that the likely bill had been reduced because of “continued improvement in planning and execution practices” and despite the fact that more infrastructure had been built since its original estimate of almost £60 billion in 2017. – The Times