Wednesday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Coal, Challenger banks

Britain will stop burning coal for electricity within a decade and build a new fleet of gas power plants to keep the lights on, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd is expected to announce today. Unveiling a new energy strategy, Ms Rudd will say it is “perverse” that coal, the “dirtiest fossil fuel” is still such a major part of the UK’s energy system – providing 29% of the UK’s electricity last year. - The Daily Telegraph

The gulf between Britain’s challenger banks and their larger counterparts may be too big to bridge, the head of the country’s banking watchdog has admitted. Andrew Bailey, chief executive of Prudential Regulation Authority, which is responsible for the regulation of banks and insurers, told MPs on the cross-party Treasury Select Committee that Britain’s biggest banks typically have a balance sheet of more than £500bn each while the next tier, Santander and Nationwide, have up to £200bn each. - The Daily Telegraph

The new “national living wage” will push up wages at more than half of all employers, forcing many of them to seek savings through improved productivity, according to a major survey. The survey by the Resolution Foundation and CIPD, one of the first to test the mood among employers before the higher wage comes into effect next April, found that 54% of respondents said it will have a material effect on their wage bill. - The Guardian

The Bank of England’s much-delayed report into the failure of HBOS is expected to paint a damning picture of the lax regulation of the boom years. The report, scheduled to be released tomorrow, is likely to make for uncomfortable reading for John Tiner, the former regulator who was in charge of the Financial Services Authority between 2003 and 2007. - The Times