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RBS split an option but would be a slow process - Treasury

March 26, 2013 12:15
LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said on Tuesday that any split of the partly state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland would be a slow process. "While of course we can discuss the merits and demerits of a good bank-bad bank split, I don't think it could be very swiftly delivered," he told British lawmakers during a hearing. A finance ministry official appearing alongside Osborne added: "Obviously this is an option." (Reporting by William Schomberg and Olesya Dmitracova)

Tesco loses ground to Sainsbury in UK food market - Kantar

March 26, 2013 10:00
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's third-largest grocer, J Sainsbury <SBRY.L>, expanded its market share in the 12 weeks to March 17, while industry leader Tesco <TSCO.L> and No. 4 player Wm Morrison <MRW.L> lost ground, according to monthly data published on Tuesday. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said Sainsbury's sales grew 6.2 percent in the period, giving it a market share of 16.9 percent. Tesco's grew 1.1 percent as the wider market grew 3.9 percent, while Morrison's sales fell 1.0 percent.

Britain eases rules for start-up banks

March 26, 2013 07:45
By Huw Jones and Matt Scuffham LONDON (Reuters) - Start-up banks in Britain will not need as much capital as their established rivals starting from April, Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) said, in a move to boost competition. Under pressure from MPs to increase choice in a sector dominated by five banks, the FSA unveiled sweeping changes to authorise new entrants within six months, a process that currently takes a year or more.

Lloyds pays 25 staff more than 1 million pounds each

March 25, 2013 09:30
By Matt Scuffham LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group paid 25 staff more than 1 million pounds each in 2012, a year in which it set aside billions of pounds to compensate customers mis-sold loan insurance. The bank, which is 39 percent owned by the UK taxpayer, said on Monday it paid bonuses worth a total of 365 million pounds in 2012, down 3 percent on the previous year and the lowest of the big four British lenders.

Cairn India plans $2 bn investment, shares rise

March 25, 2013 05:30
Shares of oil producer Cairn India rose nearly three percent Monday after the explorer said it plans to invest $2 billion to raise output by more than 70 percent at its oilfields in the country's northwest. Shares of Cairn, part of Britain-based resources giant Vedanta, controlled by tycoon Anil Agarwal, climbed 2.9 percent to a high of 285.6 rupees in trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

BP to return $8 billion to shareholders from TNK-BP sale

March 22, 2013 04:30
By Sarah Young LONDON (Reuters) - British oil company BP announced on Friday an $8 billion (5.26 billion pounds) share buy-back programme, acting swiftly on its promise to reward investors after it sold its stake in its Russian unit, TNK-BP. BP, which completed the sale of the half-owned TNK-BP to Russian state oil firm Rosneft on Thursday, said the move, designed to increase the value of remaining shares, was an amount equivalent to the value of the company's original investment in TNK-BP in 2003.

New financial watchdog will be no "pushover" - CEO

March 21, 2013 13:31
By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - The head of Britain's new financial watchdog said on Thursday it would be no pushover and would bring more individuals to book, but that threats and fines alone would not end the abuses blamed for the financial crisis. Martin Wheatley played down a comment by his predecessor Hector Sants that the industry needs to "be afraid" of its regulator.

Co-op paves way for Lloyds deal with disposal plan

March 21, 2013 07:30
By Matt Scuffham LONDON (Reuters) - The Co-operative, Britain's largest mutually-owned business, paved the way for the purchase of 632 bank branches from Lloyds <LLOY.L> as it announced on Thursday that it planned to sell its general insurance arm to bolster its finances.

SSE cuts capacity, says UK faces "lights out"

March 21, 2013 07:00
By Karolin Schaps and Lorraine Turner LONDON (Reuters) - British utility SSE Plc is to shut a quarter of its polluting and unprofitable power capacity over the coming year, warning that the government is seriously underestimating a looming electricity shortage. Adding to supply concerns after closures announced by other operators, SSE also warned that a lack of clarity on proposed changes to the electricity market meant it would not decide to build any new power stations over the coming three years.

Factbox - Britain's new financial supervision system

March 20, 2013 21:00
LONDON (Reuters) - The Financial Services Authority (FSA) will be scrapped on March 31 to reform a supervisory system that failed to spot the financial crisis coming, forcing Britain to bail out banks. The new system gives regulators stronger powers to intervene early to stop the mis-selling of financial products seen over the past two decades. The main elements are: * Financial Policy Committee:
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