Papers

EDINBURGH-BASED mutual Standard Life was yesterday dealt another harsh blow by the Scottish arm of one of the UK's largest IFAs after it announced it will not resurrect its relationship with the firm.

As if we needed reminding, The Times leads today with a look at just how much more money chancellor Gordon Brown will pocket as of tomorrow when the new fiscal year starts.

BATTLE LINES could be drawn between Standard Life's board of directors and policyholders from next week if customers vote against the boardroom pay, says this morning's Scotsman, as the board does not regard the vote as "binding".

GIVEN THE IMPORTANCE of yesterday's announcement, it is unsurprising the Standard Life demutualisation is dominating the front pages of newspapers and business sections this morning.

Another 2,000 workers face losing their lifetime pensions savings if bus maker Mayflower does not manage to secure creditor funding following its admission of a £20m accounting error on Monday.

SAINSBURY'S, the supermarket, is moving further into financial services following the launch of its own health insurance policy through its banking division, says this morning's Scotsman newspaper.

COMPENSATION COSTS to employees who lost their retirement funds in failed company pensions could be much lower than expected, according to comments from the Association of Corporate Trustees in this morning's Daily Telegraph.

Britain's financial services industry has a £218m bill from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to bail out victims of mis-selling and insurance company failures, says this morning's Guardian newspaper.

THE FINANCIAL Services Authority has hit back at criticisms of its new realistic reporting rules, claiming the solvency regime for insurers is simply "common sense".

STOCKMARKETS AROUND the world will be looking out for the opening of trading in New York later today after the key Dow Jones Industrial Average index yesterday threatened to drop below the key 10,000 points level.