Papers

Britain faces two years of economic pain and could sink into recession, the Governor of the Bank of England has said in a stark warning to the nation, The Times reports.

Sir Fred Goodwin will today ask shareholders in Royal Bank of Scotland to support the biggest rights issue in corporate history, The Guardian reports.

The Treasury has succumbed to sustained pressure from big business and agreed to water down controversial proposals to change the UK corporate tax regime, The Times reports.

Hugh Osmond, the serial entrepreneur, is considering relocating Pearl Assurance, his financial services group, outside the UK for tax purposes, in the latest sign that frustrated businesses have lost faith in the Labour Government, The Times reports....

The City of London will cut 10,000 jobs over the next three years as the credit crunch hits the world's biggest banks, The Telegraph reports.

GLG could lose up to $4.3bn (£2.2bn) of its total $24.6bn funds under management as a result of the impending departure of star hedge fund manager Greg Coffey, The Telegraph reports.

Standard Life's decision to cut payments on endowments, raise time-bars, and cut bonuses is bad news for policyholders but good news for the company, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Royal Dutch Shell and BP, Europe's two largest oil companies, both saw first quarter profits jump thanks to record crude prices and higher natural gas prices, The Telegraph reports.

HBOS, the UK's largest mortgage lender, is set to launch a rights issue to raise up to £4bn as it braces itself for an ongoing downturn in the UK economy, The Telegraph reports.

More British banks are poised to tap shareholders for billions of pounds in emergency capital, Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, revealed yesterday, The Times reports.