Monday Papers: BofA moves closer to payout

Top stories

• Financial Times: Bank of America has moved closer to returning capital to shareholders after unexpectedly reaching new international capital standards last week.
• The Guardian: BAE Systems, UK's largest defence contractor, is close to securing order from Oman for 12 Typhoon jets to build on relationship with Saudi Arabia.
• Financial Times: Orders for offshore wind turbines have come to an abrupt halt in the UK, in what some industry figures say is the first clear sign of a long-feared slowdown in renewable energy investment.
• The Guardian: One of BP's longest-running energy concessions is threatening to become a high-profile victim of tensions between the UAE and Britain over criticism of the Middle East state's crackdown on Islamist extremist groups.
• Financial Times: Fresh text messages between David Cameron and Rebekah Brooks have been published, shedding new light on the close friendship between the prime minister and former News International boss.
• The Independent: Apple paid $713 million in corporation tax outside the US in the year to 29 September, despite its foreign pre-tax earnings surging more than 50% to $36.8 billion, papers filed with US regulators revealed.
• The Daily Telegraph: The investors behind Comet are sitting on a £50 million cash pile after keeping control of the failed electrical retailer’s warranties business.
• The Guardian: HSBC will set aside an extra £500 million to cover fines for alleged money laundering by its US arm when the bank releases its third-quarter results on Monday.
• The Independent: HSBC on Monday said it had increased lending to homebuyers by a fifth, and to first-time buyers by a third, so far this year.
• Financial Times: Commerzbank is to revamp its faltering retail operations and pledge a rapid sell-off of unwanted assets to try to restore growth, four years after its attempt to become a commanding force in German banking by buying rival Dresdner Bank was thrown off course by the financial crisis.
• Daily Mail: Catherine Brown, the most senior female executive at the Bank of England, has emerged as a frontrunner to become the first chief operating officer in the Old Lady’s 318-year history.

Business and economics

• Financial Times: Germany is leading a growing European movement to let newspaper publishers charge internet search engines for displaying links to their articles – a move market-leader Google warns could cause an internet news blackout.
• The Daily Telegraph: Entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz is to take legal action against the Serious Fraud Office for damages after his arrest as part of an investigation into the collapse of Icelandic bank Kaupthing.
• The Guardian: Hayley Parsons, the founder of Go Compare, the insurance company famous for its TV adverts fronted by fictitious opera singer Gio Compario, could collect more than £100 million if she pushes ahead with plans to sell the insurance comparison site.
• The Daily Telegraph: Tidjane Thiam, chief executive of Prudential, has claimed he was shocked by the vitriol and personal attacks aimed at him following the insurance giant’s notorious botched takeover bid for Asia’s AIA in 2010.
• Daily Mail: The pressure on Marks & Spencer boss Marc Bolland to mastermind a turnaround will be cranked up this week, as the retailer prepares to post half-year results likely to show falling profits.
• Financial Times: Japanese companies are returning more money to shareholders in spite of a darkening economic outlook and subdued earnings forecasts, in a sign of more shareholder-friendly approaches to capital management by these notorious cash-hoarders.
• Financial Times: The head of DBS, Singapore’s biggest bank by assets and also the largest in southeast Asia, has declared that China’s economic slowdown has bottomed and “the worst is behind us”.
• Financial Times: Weak global demand for Chinese exports was on display at China’s largest industrial bazaar, Canton Fair, where suppliers of everything from electronics to Christmas decorations said both the number of buyers and orders were 10% lower than the previous fair in the spring.
• The Daily Telegraph: Russian oligarchs and "mafiosi" who have parked their illegal earnings inside the country stand to benefit most from an EU bail-out of Cyprus, according to a report by Germany's intelligence agency.
• Financial Times: Sovereign debt issued by the so-called Bric economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China could be a riskier proposition than their credit ratings indicate, according to research by ING Investment Management.
• Financial Times: Latin American companies have sold a record $68.4 billion worth of bonds in the US this year as borrowers have sought to tap global investors’ appetite for higher yielding assets.
• The Independent: Luxury brand Pringle of Scotland has posted a £9.56 million loss for the year to February, up on last year's £7.25 million, and received a £14 million bailout from its Hong Kong-based owners.
• Daily Mail: Waste group Enpure collapsed owing creditors £17.9 million, administrators have revealed.

Share tips, comment and bids

• Financial Times: Investindustrial, the Italian private equity group, has agreed to take full control of PortAventura, Europe’s third-biggest theme park, in a rare vote of confidence in the troubled Spanish economy.
• Financial Times: Kcell, the largest mobile operator in Kazakhstan, plans to list about a quarter of its equity for up to £500 million in London.
• Daily Mail: Venn Life Sciences, which manages clinical trials, has announced plans to acquire smaller firms in Europe after it lists on Aim this week.
• Financial Times: Investcorp is set on Monday to unveil the $140m acquisition of Georg Jensen as the Bahrain-based group seeks to turn the Danish luxury retailer into a global name through expansion in Asia.
• Daily Mail: American private equity group Carlyle is considering a takeover bid for British carpet firm Victoria, which has been riven by a bitter boardroom struggle in recent months.
• Financial Times (Editorial): Barack Obama is the wiser bet for crisis-hit US.
• The Guardian (Editorial): Ultimately the British high street died of neglect, with no agency willing to map out a different future for it.