Papers

Sandie Crombie may have been given the job as chief executive of Standard Life, but the company's performance has now led him to give up on an annual bonus and cash incentive worth some £500,000.

One of the first polls of the year involving City folk and economists suggests there is a strong risk of a serious downturn in the residential housing market.

Ringing in the joys of the New Year today is a report from consultant Deloitte & Touche suggesting FTSE stocks would have to rise another 30% from current highs just to cover the deficit in final salary schemes operated by relevant companies.

A steep fall in the number of house loans approved in November does not seem to have hurt investors' outlook with the FTSE hitting a 30-month high yesterday.

Millions of people with credit cards issued by major banks may not be able to use them in the January sales, says the Daily Telegraph , because some firms have yet to send customers the new ‘chip and pin' cards.

BANKS AND building societies shielded borrowers from the full impact of rising base rates this year but made their money by cutting the gains for savers, says the Daily Telegraph .

GORDON BROWN'S plan to give every child in the UK a savings pot suffered a serious setback yesterday, argues the Times , as Fidelity Investments has now pulled out of plans to offer these products.

THE FINANCIAL OMBUDSMAN SERVICE (FOS) says it will not be able to cope with the expected increase in mortgage endowment complaints in 2005, unless steps are taken to force providers to settle cases themselves, the Telegraph says.

ABBEY is still struggling to clear its backlog of Isa savers who wish to transfer their cash Isas to the bank before Christmas and may not clear the 25,000 customers, says the Times .

The Financial Services Authority is expected to extract around £190m in compensation for investors who incurred losses in split-capital investment trusts, the Daily Telegraph reported over the weekend.