Wednesday newspaper round-up: Italy, inflation, Unilever, Funding Circle

Theresa May is under pressure to set out a timetable for her departure after Cabinet ministers said it was now a question of “when, not if” she stands down as Prime Minister. Discussions have begun about when Mrs May should be ousted if she refuses to leave Number 10 before the next general election. - Telegraph

The Italian deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, has threatened to sue Jean-Claude Juncker for damages, accusing the EU president of pushing up Rome’s cost of borrowing by likening Italy to Greece. Salvini, who is also Italy’s interior minister and leader of the far-right League party, was speaking after Juncker’s comments helped send the yield on Italian benchmark bonds to a four-and-a-half year high of 3.4%, while shares in Italian banks plunged. - Guardian

Shop prices are creeping up again as retailers cut back on the discounting that has been a major feature of the high street in recent years. Food prices last month rose 1.9pc year-on-year while the fall in the cost of other goods slowed to a drop of 0.9pc. - Telegraph

London’s attempt to become a magnet for new technology companies has suffered a setback as shares in one of the capital’s homegrown “unicorns” lost nearly a fifth of their value before their official market debut today. Shares in the peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle dropped more than 20 per cent at points yesterday during conditional dealing as investors appeared to bail out of the stock days after it completed a £1.5 billion flotation. - The Times

The trade association for investment management firms has said it is “deeply troubled” by the prospect of some Unilever retail investors being disenfranchised over the company’s plans to relocate to the Netherlands. The Personal Investment Management and Financial Advice Association (Pimfa) said it had raised concerns with the government, the Financial Conduct Authority and the London Stock Exchange over individual shareholders potentially not being able to vote on October 26 on the proposals. - The Times

Nearly a tenth of Unilever’s shareholders have publicly committed to voting against the company’s plan to scrap its Anglo-Dutch structure. Columbia Threadneedle, a top 20 shareholder, is the latest investor to join a roster of big City names that have come out against the move. - Telegraph

New York state tax authorities are investigating after the New York Timesreported that Donald Trump engaged in “dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud”, as he and his siblings took control of a real estate empire built by Fred C Trump, the president’s late father. “The tax department is reviewing the allegations in the NYT article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation,” the state taxation authority said. - Guardian

The Serious Fraud Office has suffered a setback after admitting defeat in its attempt to force a British mining company to hand over documents that it believed could reveal alleged financial wrongdoing within the business. A month on from a Court of Appeal ruling overturning a judgment that forced Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) to disclose documents prepared on its behalf by lawyers and forensic accountants, the SFO has said that it will not be pursuing the matter further. - The Times

Unpaid household work, such as looking after children, doing laundry and cooking, is worth £1.24tn per year – more than the value of the UK’s retail and manufacturing output combined, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released data for 2015 and 2016 on Tuesday estimating the value of the unpaid work undertaken by households, which also included caring for adults at home and driving to work. It said the value had grown every year from 2005 to 2016. - Guardian