Monday newspaper round-up: Boeing, Tata Steel, Fortress Capital
Boeing will plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two deadly crashes of 737 Max jetliners, after the government determined the company violated an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years, the US the government said in court filing late on Sunday. Federal prosecutors gave Boeing the choice this week of entering a guilty plea and paying a fine as part of its sentence, or facing a trial on the felony criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the US. – Guardian
The UK will press for “job guarantees” in return for taxpayer-funded investment during talks with the Indian-owned Tata Steel about the future of its flagship Port Talbot site. The new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, said he believed there was a “better deal available” for the south Wales site and the steel industry as a whole, as he confirmed on Sunday that negotiations with Tata were continuing. – Guardian
Millions of passengers could be compensated for late flights if a landmark legal case against British Airways and easyJet proves successful. British Airways and easyJet are battling to throw out the case, which risks forcing airlines to pay out hundreds of millions of pounds to passengers over late flights. The two carriers have been sued in the High Court over claims they must automatically compensate travellers whose flights are severely delayed or cancelled. – Telegraph
Administrators of a failed investment business backed by celebrities and members of a south London church have labelled it a “Ponzi” scheme and say they wish to pursue the bankruptcy of its directors. Insolvency practitioners from Begbies Traynor said that bankrupting Ashley Reading, 54, and his daughter Cameron, 24, who ran Fortress Capital Partners, would allow a full investigation of their personal affairs, including bank and credit card statements. – The Times
Britain’s biggest asset manager has made the case for higher executive pay in the UK, warning that a gap between the bosses of British and American companies risks a flight of talent to the United States. Schroders, the investment group that oversees about £760 billion of assets, including stakes in some of the London stock market’s biggest companies, analysed the pay packages handed to 2,353 chief executives in Britain and America. It found that on average UK bosses were paid one fifth of the money earned by their peers across the Atlantic. Even adjusting for the size of companies, chief executives in the US were paid more than twice that of their rivals in Britain, Schroders said. – The Times