Survey finds energy bills are too high
Energy suppliers are failing to pass on the benefits of plunging wholesale prices to recession-hit customers, according to new data. As power companies face tougher rules from today to explain their pricing to the regulator, research from ICIS Heren shows that the wholesale price of gas averaged 25.5p per therm during the period from 1 April to 24 August. However, the main power suppliers have not cut prices by a comparable amount.

FSA issues alert on market ‘spoofing’
The City watchdog has fired a warning shot across London’s share markets, calling on trading firms to be alert to a practice known as “spoofing” that the regulator fears could be a form of market abuse.  The warning, from the Financial Services Authority, comes as regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are on heightened alert to market abuse in the wake of the financial crisis and as trading technology allows increasingly creative ways to deal in securities.  In the US controversy is raging over the role of “flash trades”, a practice whereby exchanges allow traders’ computers an extended glimpse of share order flows a fraction of a second before the broader market.

Cancer teacher 'sacked by e-mail'
A teacher who claims she was sacked by e-mail while suffering from bowel cancer is suing her former nursery school for £25,000.  Melinda Bodnar, 27, was given a 30% chance of survival when she was diagnosed with the tumour in November 2008, and spent seven months on chemotherapy, according to the Metro.  While off sick in March this year, Bodnar allegedly received an e-mail from the privately owned school telling her she was fired.  The e-mail allegedly read: "You will see that you haven't been paid for this month – you have been on full pay up until now but I am afraid I cannot manage that any longer, as I am sure you will understand."  The school denies disability discrimination and claims Bodnar resigned before being diagnosed with cancer.  The case will be heard at a south London tribunal later this year.

‘Lesbian single-mother Muslim day' will replace Christmas, paramedic jokes
A paramedic who allegedly joked that Christmas was to be replaced by "lesbian single-mother Muslim day" is facing a misconduct hearing, the Telegraph has reported.  Karl Touhey, 40, made offensive comments about Muslims, obese people, homosexuals and women he found unattractive, while working for South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust, a former colleague Edward Wiltshire has alleged. Wiltshire also claimed Touhey routinely used the word n****r to refer to black people, the Health Professions Council in London heard yesterday (1 September).

Late-payment law backfires on small business
Legislation intended to help small businesses punish late payers is instead being used against them by large companies seeking a reward for settling bills promptly, says a study by Leeds University Business School. Since November 1998, companies with 50 employees or fewer have been able to claim interest of 8 percentage points over the Bank of England base rate if their customers fail to settle bills on time under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act. The report found that a fifth of companies said the interest charge was being used as an excuse for customers to demand a discount for paying "early".

Pfizer fined record $1.3bn for illegal marketing
Pfizer has been slapped with the largest criminal fine in US history, part of a $2.3bn (£1.4bn) settlement over illegal marketing practices for a string of prescription drugs.  The pharmaceuticals giant is pleading guilty to promoting its withdrawn arthritis painkiller Bextra to doctors for unapproved uses and is paying to settle other claims over its marketing of nine other drugs. The criminal fine of $1.3bn is the highest ever levied and the overall size of the settlement is the biggest ever in the drug industry. It signals that the Department of Justice plans to come down hard on firms as it seeks to claw back money to reduce the cost of the US state-run health insurance schemes Medicare and Medicaid.

Small firms are waiting for months to get paid, says FSB
Some of the best-known companies in Britain are causing the closure of 4,000 small businesses because of the late payment of invoices, according to research published yesterday by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).  The federation accuses groups such as the catering giant Compass, the online book seller Amazon and the brewer Carlsberg of extended payment terms to up to four months, or even charging small businesses for prompt payments in some cases.  The FSB says that the one in three small companies in the UK are now waiting longer to be paid by debtors since the onset of the credit crunch, a problem that directly led to closure of 4,000 firms last year.

Power station and refinery workers vote for strike action
Some of Britain's largest refineries and power stations face being shut down after workers voted to stage official action over the hiring of cheaper foreign labour.  The result of the ballot – to be revealed tomorrow to the employers, including BP and Shell – follows months of "wildcat" action sparked by the use of foreign contractors at Lindsey refinery in Lincolnshire.  The vast majority of 7,000 of GMB union members at seven sites, which include the nuclear complex at Sellafield and BP's North Sea gas pipeline, have voted in favour of industrial action, the Guardian has learned. They want employers to allow unions to carry out full audits of the contracts of all 30,000 workers. Unions accuse companies of reneging on national collective pay deals by hiring workers, often from overseas, on lower wages.

Half of senior police say they are stressed and depressed
More than half of senior police officers are suffering from anxiety and depression brought on by under-staffing, bullying chief constables and 60-hour working weeks.
The survey of 800 superintendents and chief superintendents in England and Wales paints a picture of police forces ravaged by record levels of stress-related illnesses. Nearly one-quarter described their anxiety symptoms as moderate or severe, while a similar number said they suffered from depression.  In one recent case, a 40-year-old superintendent suffered a heart attack after working 30 days without a day off. The findings are so worrying that the Police Superintendents' Association is to raise the report with Sir Hugh Orde, the new head of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo).

Supermarkets face investigation into dairy prices
An investigation has been launched by the European commission into the failure of supermarkets to pass on price cuts to shoppers.  The investigation follows the revelation that although the cost of butter has fallen by 39% over the past year, the price paid by consumers has gone down by only 2%.  The commission found that on average the price of skimmed milk powder was down 49%, cheese down 18% and milk down 31%. However, retail prices for each of these products have fallen by only 2%.  Its report said the magnitude if the discrepancy and delay in adjusting prices showed that Europe's dairy supply chain does not function efficiently. "Preventing consumers from benefiting from lower prices constrains the development of demand for dairy products and thus hinders the strength and pace of recovery of the sector," the report stated.

Staff at PC World and Currys mock customers' 'stupidity' on Facebook
Staff at PC World and Currys are using Facebook to launch a torrent of abuse at customers. Offensive comments have been posted on discussion boards by past and present employees, entitled "Really Stupid Customers!" and "Some customers are really, really stupid".  Despite criticising some customers for being "ignorant", many of the group's 3,000 members have posted comments under their real names.
The shops' parent company, DSG, is understood to be investigating in the wake of the revelations. Posters who said they were employed by DSG said some customers deserved to be punched and one asked if they should be allowed to "cattle prod" others.

London tube line workers 'conned' out of thousands by gangmaster
Workers employed to build parts of London's new transport links which will be vital during the Olympics have, in effect, been conned out of thousands of pounds by a gangmaster.  Between April 2008 and March this year, workers on the tube's East London Line extension project were paid as little as a third of the amount Paul Singh was charging for their work, allowing him to amass a profit of more than £300,000. "Singh was getting £155 per man per day for his 15-strong team while paying them around the minimum wage [£5.73 per hour] which allowed him to make around £6,000 per week for himself," said Transport for London spokesman Guy Pitt.

Company fights climate change ruling by employment tribunal
A controversial tribunal decision that some company practices can discriminate against employees with strongly held views on climate change will be challenged in the courts. Former head of sustainability at Grainger plc Tim Nicholson claimed he was unfairly dismissed because his views on the environment conflicted with other managers' "contempt for the need to cut carbon emissions." In the first case of its kind, an employment tribunal decided that Nicholson had views amounting to a "philosophical belief in climate change", allowing him the same legal protection against discrimination as for religious beliefs.

BAE Systems ‘gets Serious Fraud Office deadline from to admit bribes’
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has set BAE Systems a four-week deadline to plead guilty to allegations of bribery linked to lucrative equipment contracts, according to industry sources.  The defence giant has been warned that it could face a criminal trial over the claims if it fails to reach an agreement with investigators.  BAE would be expected to pay fines running to tens of millions of pounds alongside any guilty plea.  The investigation relates to contracts struck by the company in South Africa, Tanzania and the Czech Republic. It is understood that the total value of the deals in question exceeds £2.5 billion.

Sexism in the City still rules OK
Britain's financial institutions are bastions of sexism in which women work long hours for less pay and in segregated conditions, according to a far-reaching investigation of discrimination in the City released today.  The findings, described as "shocking" by the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), show a financial sector dominated by a "macho" or "lads' culture" where bonuses paid to women are just a fifth of those received by men.  Women working in banks and other financial institutions told the EHRC that workers who become pregnant routinely face redundancy, and that recruitment was all about "jobs for the boys". Clients were often "entertained" in lap-dancing clubs, hostess bars or at sports such as golf, from which women were excluded.   

BAE Systems and SFO discuss compromise deal after epic investigation into arms sales
BAE Systems is negotiating a possible settlement with the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over bribery and corruption allegations that could see Europe’s largest defence company pay a fine but admit no guilt.  Several outcomes are understood to be on the table as the SFO looks to wrap up investigations into BAE arms sales in Africa and Eastern Europe.  With the inquiry entering its sixth year, sources close to the fraud office have said that it may go after BAE for “procedural” failings. This would allow the SFO to fine BAE without the company admitting guilt on the more serious charges of corruption.  One possibility is that BAE could be penalised for its accounting procedures, specifically the tax treatment of commissions paid to middle men.

Sacked executives of Park Resorts win unfair dismissal tribunal
Three former executives of Park Resorts, the caravan park operator controlled by GI Partners (GIP), won their unfair dismissal case yesterday, although a tribunal rejected their claim that they were sacked after they blew the whistle on misleading financial estimates given by GIP to the banks.  Martin Grant, the former chief executive, and his colleagues Colin Bramall and Richard Hunt, had alleged that Brad Altberger, a GIP managing director, had dishonestly misrepresented the profits that Park Resorts was set to report in an attempt to allay the banking syndicate’s fears that it might breach covenants.

FSA fines Barclays £2.45m for 'serious' breaches
Barclays, Britain's second-biggest bank, has been fined £2.45 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for 'serious' breaches in its reporting of trades.  The fine, the eighth highest ever handed down by the City watchdog, was levied after Barclays and Barclays Capital Securities was found to have either failed to report or reported incompletely 57.5 million transactions.  The FSA said the fine reflected the "serious nature of Barclay's breaches". The bank had "failed to conduct its business with due skill, care and diligence," it said.  The group avoided a higher fine, of £3.5 million, by agreeing to settle early on in the investigation.

Bankers sue for Euro 33 million in unpaid bonuses
Seventy two City bankers are suing Dresdner Kleinwort and Commerzbank for Euro 33 million ($47.8 million) worth of unpaid bonuses in the biggest case of its kind in the UK. The lawsuit, filed yesterday in the High Court, is the latest sign that bankers are ready to fight for their pay packets in spite of public outrage over the size of the rewards on offer in an industry widely blamed for the financial crisis. An additional 25-30 former employees at Dresdner, which was bought by Germany's Commerzbank late last year, are expected to file a separate suit in the coming weeks.

Doctors want booze marketing ban
There should be a ban on all alcohol advertising, including sports and music sponsorship, doctors say.  The British Medical Association said the crackdown on marketing was needed, along with an end to cut-price deals, to stop rising rates of consumption.  The industry spends £800m a year on promoting drinks - just a quarter of which goes on direct advertising.  Doctors said action was essential as alcohol was now one of the leading causes of early death and disability.

NHS staff suspended for playing `The Lying Down Game'
Seven staff at Great Western Hospital, Swindon, Wilts, were said to have taken part in the internet craze by lying down on resuscitation trollies, ward floors and a heli-pad.  The game involves being pictured lying down with arms by the side and toes pointing towards the floor.  The group had been working a night shift and posted photographs of the stunt on the social networking site Facebook.  The images, which have since been removed, were posted under the title Secret Swindon Emergency Department Group.

Palm oil producers 'misled' over green claims
The palm oil industry misled the public by claiming production of the vegetable fat was sustainable and socially useful, according to an official investigation.  In a ruling today, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld four complaints against a magazine advert by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) intended to counter environmental and human rights criticism of its record.  Plantations producing palm oil for food, household products and biofuels have destroyed swathes of rainforest on the Indonesian and Malaysian islands of Sumatra and Borneo, evicting indigenous tribes and threatening orangutans and other endangered species.

Consultant 'victimised for exposing cost-cutting'
A leading cancer consultant who repeatedly raised concerns about the health and safety of patients at a London hospital will claim today that he was victimised by managers and had his warnings ignored.  Ramon Niekrash, 50, a consultant urologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in south-east London, alleges that warnings he made in a series of letters about chronic cost-cutting led to him being branded a "trouble-maker" and excluded from the hospital last year.  In his whistleblowing employment case against the Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust, Mr Niekrash will tell a tribunal that the reduction of specialist nurses and closure of the specialist urology ward damaged the care of patients.

Burmese generals pocket $5bn from Total oil deal
The Burmese military junta has earned almost $5bn from a controversial gas pipeline operated by the French oil giant Total and deprived the country of vital income by depositing almost all the money in bank accounts in Singapore, a new report claims. Campaigners say Total has also profited handsomely from the arrangement, with an estimated income of $483m from the project since 2000. Campaigners say that the windfall from the Yadana pipeline, operated by Total and two other partners, has been so huge that it has done much to insulate the country's military rulers from the impact of international sanctions imposed over its human rights abuses. The report from EarthRights International (ERI), published today, argues that this makes Total and their partners a major factor in reinforcing the regime's intransigence. And it claims that while their people suffer some of the worst standards of living in Asia, with miserable state investment in health, education, infrastructure and everything else that affects the lives of ordinary people, the self-perpetuating military elite has grown obscenely wealthy.

Sports stores face fraud inquiry into claims of price-fixing
The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into alleged anti-competitive activities and fraud involving the sportswear retailers JJB Sports and Sports Direct that could lead to significant fines and even jail sentences if such practices are found to have occurred.  Following a referral from the Office of Fair Trading, the SFO confirmed that it had beguns proceedings after JJB approached the OFT in exchange for immunity in January. Yesterday, the offices of both companies were raided as part of a wide ranging investigation into alleged "cartel activity" between the chains to lessen competition in the sportswear sector.

Iceland banks' fraud trails 'lead to UK'
Leading Icelandic prosecutors met members of the Serious Fraud Office in London today , underlining the strong British dimension in mounting evidence of widespread and substantial frauds exposed in the Nordic nation's dramatic banking meltdown 11 months ago.  Special prosecutor Olafur Hauksson, who is leading a specialist unit set up to investigate financial crimes emerging from last October's banking collapse, said he was unable to talk about individual cases, but "a lot of roads lead to the UK". Hauksson said he already had 35 cases under investigation and expected the total to rapidly grow to between 60 and 70. Areas of inquiry include loan fraud, market manipulation, document fraud, embezzlement and bank fraud.

KPMG report into 2012 Olympics spending reveals £160m accounting shortfall
An investigation into 2012 Olympics spending has revealed that a financial black hole has expanded to £160 million amid accusations of a cover-up by the Mayor of London’s officials.  An unpublished report from KPMG, which was called in to conduct the inquiry, revealed the massive accounting discrepancy at the London Development Agency. Previously the shortfall was believed to be in the region of £86 million.  The report, obtained by The Times, reveals a catalogue of management errors and budgetary failings raising questions about use of money by the organisation controlled by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.

Deloitte’s £30m fees at MG Rover and the Phoenix consortium
Deloitte, the accountancy firm, took fees of more than £30m from MG Rover and the Phoenix consortium in the five years before the Midlands carmaker collapsed.  Its pivotal role in the business, where five executives have been accused of enriching themselves by £42m while the car group withered, has been uncovered in a long-awaited government inspector’s report.  It also revealed that another firm, Barclays Capital, was instrumental in putting forward schemes that helped Phoenix to earn millions by exploiting MG Rover’s tax losses.

Body Shop ethics under fire after Colombian peasant evictions
The Body Shop, the cosmetics giant that claims to source ingredients from companies that protect local farmers' rights, buys palm oil from an organisation that pushed for the eviction of peasant families to develop a new plantation.  Daabon Organics, a Colombian firm that provides the British chain with 90% of all its palm oil, was part of a consortium that asked the courts to remove farmers from a sprawling ranch 320km north of the capital Bogotá with a plan to grow African palm. Police in riot gear evicted the farmers in July.

Flower gangmasters lose licences
Three gangmasters who used Polish and Lithuanian workers to pick flowers in Cornwall have had their licences revoked after an investigation.  The Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) said it found overcrowded accommodation for workers living in caravans in Cornwall and Scotland.  Workers were paid £50 a week, with the rest of their wages held back until their contracts had finished.  The licences of AAW Contract Services, JDSS and EU Labour were revoked.

Bosses switch pension contributions to cash to avoid tax clampdown
Company directors switched millions of pounds worth of pension contributions into cash last year to avoid a government clampdown on tax relief for wealthy pension savers, according to the Guardian's survey of directors' pensions.  Some directors were granted all of their pension contribution as a one-off cash lump sum while others received a proportion of the money as a separate payment.  Pension experts said most directors asked for cash instead of a pension to dodge a cut in tax relief affecting people with pension pots worth more than £1.75m. The 50p-in-the-£1 tax rate was implemented in 2006 on pots worth more than £1.75m, prompting executives to rely less on their occupational schemes and more on individual savings plans.

Tesco leads 'league of shame' on cleanliness
Tesco is the least hygienic of Britain's big four supermarkets, with environmental health inspectors finding more serious problems at its premises than at Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, according to a league table of checks by local authorities.
In a five-star rating system, 5 per cent of Tesco stores scored less than the three-star rating which indicates good compliance with health laws, according to statistics passed to The Independent.  At Asda, the figure was 4 per cent, at Sainsbury's 3 per cent – and Morrisons none – indicating that as many as 150 big stores owned by the three largest grocery chains breach food safety legislation.

BT calls in temps as staff reject 'flexible' hours
BT has been forced to call in 500 temporary workers after employees at its Openreach business, which installs and maintains internet and phone lines, refused to work more flexible hours.  The telecoms giant, which axed 10,000 contract workers last year and announced in May that more would go, is in talks with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) whose members rejected the proposals last week.  After discussions in August, the CWU agreed to back BT's proposals that Openreach working hours should include evenings and weekends, times its customers tend to be at home.

GSK refuses to say what UK pays for H1N1 vaccine
GlaxoSmithKline again refused to disclose yesterday how much the UK Government is paying for as many as 132 million doses of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine it has ordered from the group.  Europe's biggest drugs company, which along with rival Baxter will supply the Government with the vaccine, said at the time of its second-quarter results in July that it was charging developed countries €7 a dose for the treatment. The British Government is getting a discount, but neither the company, nor the Department of Health is prepared to say how much GSK is earning from Britain.

Bank of America faces trial over bonuses 'lies'
A furious judge has rejected a proposed out-of-court settlement that would have seen Bank of America pay $33m (£20m) to resolve claims that it lied to shareholders during the takeover of Merrill Lynch last year.  In an almost unprecedented move, US District Court Judge Jed Rakoff said the settlement was not fair or reasonable, and that BofA would have to explain itself at a trial next February. That will pile additional pressure on Ken Lewis, the bank's chief executive, who has already been warned that he personally might face civil charges from the New York attorney general.

Accountant claims £40m from PricewaterhouseCoopers
An accountant, Mihaela Popa, has begun a record £40 million claim against PricewaterhouseCoopers at a tribunal on the grounds that the company allegedly sabotaged her career after she lost an earlier tribunal against them.  Miss Popa, a 31 year-old Romanian, resigned from her £41,000 a year job as a forensic accountant at PwC in November 2006 after suffering a nervous breakdown.
She went on to work for two other banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, but was made redundant by both and now claims that PwC were to blame for sabotaging her future career prospects through its references and influence on her new employers.

Mortgage Broker Banned for Systems Failure
The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced that it has banned mortgage broker Arthur Kirk for failing to establish proper systems and controls at his mortgage advisory business. As a result of these failings, the FSA alleges that Mr Kirk and his firm were "at risk of being used for financial crime, particularly mortgage fraud, and customers of the firm were exposed to the risk of receiving unsuitable advice on mortgage contracts". Mr Kirk also failed to take remedial actions required by the FSA to bring the firm into compliance. FSA enforcement director Margaret Cole said that the case demonstrated that it was "vital that sole traders and others running firms demonstrate the necessary competence and capability to ensure their firm cannot be used for financial crime and that it is able to provide suitable advice and treat customers fairly".

Executive pay survey: Perks come as standard for boardroom bosses
There's the bus company boss who gets free petrol for his private motoring, and the head of a mining group whose company coughs up to pay his gardener.  The annual Guardian executive pay survey, which delves into the very small print of company annual reports, has uncovered a world in which those wealthy enough to pay their own way are powerful enough to ensure they don't have to.  The bus boss who gets the free motoring is Sir Moir Lockhead, the chief executive of First Group, the UK's biggest bus and train company. Public transport is clearly not for him. His perks included £27,500 for a car and £5,000 of free petrol for use outside work hours – enough to fuel 30,000 miles of driving round his family cattle farm on Royal Deeside.

KPMG director jailed for £500,000 fraud
A director of the global accountancy firm KPMG was jailed for four years yesterday after trying to buy his second wife happiness with more than £500,000 in fraudulent expenses.  Andrew Wetherall said that when the ex-partner of his wife Catherine tried to cut her maintenance payments he was worried her lifestyle would suffer. Desperate to avoid another round of marital tension and a possible divorce, he faked his expenses to pay for expensive watches, top-of-the range cars and five-star holidays. But he was careful to keep fraudulent claims under £5,000 to escape the need for authorisation.

How UK oil company Trafigura tried to cover up African pollution disaster
The British oil trader Trafigura has offered to pay out in a historic damages claim from 31,000 Africans injured by the dumping of toxic waste in one of the worst pollution disasters in recent history, the Guardian can reveal.  The compensation deal for the victims of toxic oil waste dumping in west Africa – likely to be confirmed imminently – means the full extent of attempts to cover up what really happened can be spelled out for the first time.

Pay gap widens between executives and their staff
The pay gap between top bosses and their staff continues to widen as executive remuneration races ahead of staff wage settlements – providing further evidence that the recession is hitting the shopfloor far harder than the boardroom.  The highest-paid boss last year was Bart Becht, chief executive of Reckitt Benckiser, which makes everything from Nurofen to Cillit Bang. The Dutchman, who was the most highly rewarded boss in the FTSE 100, received the same pay as 1,374 average workers at the Slough-based multinational. The huge boss-worker ratio is not a result of Reckitt workers being particularly poorly paid – their average salary is £26,700, in line with the national average – but is a reflection of the huge rewards handed out in pay, perks and share-based incentives to the chief executive. Becht received about £37m last year.

Minister faces inquiry over illegal worker
The Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, was fighting for her political career last night as immigration officials began an investigation into how she came to hire an illegal worker as a housekeeper.  The UK Border Agency's investigation piled embarrassment on Lady Scotland, who is the chief law officer for England and Wales. She will have to surrender all paperwork relating to the employment of her Tongan housekeeper, Loloahi Tapui.  Under laws passed when Lady Scotland was a Home Office minister, anyone found guilty of employing an illegal immigrant – even in good faith – can be fined up to £10,000.

Jedi religion founder accuses Tesco of discrimination over rules on hoods
Tesco has been accused of religious discrimination after the company ordered the founder of a Jedi religion to remove his hood or leave a branch of the supermarket in north Wales.  Daniel Jones, founder of the religion inspired by the Star Wars films, says he was humiliated and victimised for his beliefs following the incident at a Tesco store in Bangor.  The 23-year-old, who founded the International Church of Jediism, which has 500,000 followers worldwide, was told the hood flouted store rules.

Stress and worker suicides mean the future's not bright at Orange
Under government pressure, France Télécom today launched negotiations with its unions over stress. This week, the company introduced helplines and new medical experts, and temporarily suspended staff relocations. But staff have begun to break their silence on their working conditions.  A recent employee’s suicide note has become the defining message from the grave in what the French phone giant France Télécom now calls a suicide "contagion effect". In the past 18 months, 23 employees across France have killed themselves, and there have been 13 attempts. The French public is questioning how Europe's third largest mobile operator, and Europe's biggest provider of broadband internet services, has become synonymous with death and despair.

Lloyds Bank faces allegations of tax evasion
Lloyds Banking Group, the bank that is 42 per cent owned by the taxpayer, is being investigated over allegations of tax evasion after one of its employees was caught on camera apparently encouraging a customer to avoid tax by channelling money through Hong Kong.  The employee at a Jersey branch of the bank was filmed by BBC TV's Panorama telling an undercover reporter that interest earned on his deposits would be paid via Hong Kong to "get round" the European Savings Tax Directive, which would tax income paid direct from Jersey.  The reporter, who pretended he had £4 million to invest, told the Lloyds banker that he wanted to avoid paying tax and asked about reporting the income on his tax return to the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).

Building firms braced for £200m fines after OFT cartel inquiry
More than 100 British construction firms, including Balfour Beatty and Kier Group, face fines totalling more than £200m tomorrow when the Office of Fair Trading concludes its investigation into bid rigging.  The OFT will announce to the stock exchange the results of its five-year investigation into the cartel behaviour which it claims has artificially inflated the cost of £3bn of public and private sector contracts. The watchdog has accused 112 firms of colluding to artificially drive up the price of contracts put out to tender between 2000 and 2006. The contracts investigated include several public sector projects to build social housing, schools, hospitals and universities.

Tesco and Diageo attacked for ads on 'divisive' show
He is the baby-faced television assassin who makes even his colleagues at the notoriously right-wing Fox News Channel look like simpering liberals. But while Glenn Beck's show has been deserted by 62 of America's corporate titans, the likes of Tesco, Diageo and Kellogg's UK continue to advertise during the programme when it is screened on the Sky TV platform in Britain.  Beck has sparked controversy in the US by accusing Barack Obama of racism and claiming that the President has "a deep-seated hatred for white people". His incendiary comments have been blamed for adding an ugly undertone to US political debate and prompted the pressure group Color of Change to call for an advertising boycott of his show.

Huge discrepancy of fees across EU
Bank customers across Europe face pricing terms that are so opaque that it is “almost impossible for customers to know how much they are paying”, the European Commission said on Tuesday.  An in-depth report into bank fees across the EU, drawn up by independent consultants at the request of Brussels officials, also pointed to a huge discrepancy in the level of fees charged for the most basic services – such as current accounts – between different countries.  The study showed that for an average user the discrepancy in current bank account charges across the EU – with high prices directly linked to opaque price information. Italy and Spain head the list, with costs for an average user of €253 and €178 respectively. The UK stood at €103, below France at €154 but above Germany at €89. Belgium, by comparison, was just €58, the Netherlands €46 and Bulgaria €27.

BP faces antitrust and safety pressures
Pressure on BP is set to intensify in the coming weeks when US courts begin hearing an antitrust case against the oil group as authorities press for safety improvements at its biggest refinery.  AmeriGas Propane, FerrellGas, Heritage Operating and Inergy Propane allege BP cornered the propane market in 2004 and artificially inflated heating costs for millions of Americans.  This, they say in court documents, forced the companies to pay higher prices for propane than they would otherwise have done, in violation of federal antitrust laws.

Merck to publish GP payments
Merck is set to become the largest drugs company to start publishing details of its payments to doctors in the latest response to growing criticism of excessive industry influence over drug prescribing.  Richard Clark, chairman and chief executive of the second-largest US drugs group by sales, told the Financial Times that “the system needs to be totally transparent.” Critics claim tens of millions of dollars a year paid by drug companies in consultancy, speaking and writing fees as well as free drug samples given to influential doctors and medical academics are leading to prescriptions of medicines that are not justified by scientific evidence.

Credit crunch exposes anti-graft failing
The global financial crisis has exposed the need for governments and companies to tackle subtle and damaging forms of graft such as nepotism and over-aggressive lobbying, a report by a leading independent watchdog claims on Wednesday. The fallout from the credit crunch has laid bare failings across public institutions and business relating to anti-graft safeguards in hitherto obscure areas such as internal controls and conflicts of interest, says the research by Berlin-based Transparency International.  The 500-page report – covering corporate behaviour in areas from bribery to cartels – highlights how the more sophisticated types of corruption have been largely ignored during decade-long international efforts to clamp down on crude kickbacks paid by some companies to win contracts.

Uefa investigating 40 cases of Champions League and UEFA Cup match-fixing
Football found itself under the harshest public scrutiny again last night as Uefa, the sport’s European governing body, announced an investigation into alleged match-fixing in its competitions over the past four years.  Forty fixtures in the Champions League and Uefa Cup, now the Europa League, are being looked into. Uefa was alerted by “suspicious betting patterns”. The attempted “rigging” of matches has increased over the years, not because of too little money in the game but because there is too much. As a result, it is often referees, rather than players, that are bribed.  Bribery is still a fact of life in many Eastern European countries and, in Russia, it was claimed that both teams in a match would offer to bribe a referee so as to ensure even-handed treatment.

Bribes firm ordered to pay £6m for breaching Iraq sanctions
A British company that admitted bribing ministers and officials in Ghana and Jamaica, and breaching sanctions in Iraq, was yesterday ordered to pay £6.6 million in fines and compensation.  In the first prosecution brought in Britain against a company for overseas corruption, the bridge-building company Mabey & Johnson admitted employing “the white man’s handshake” to build trust and confidence before signing contracts.  The company’s “culture” of kickbacks in Iraq was said to have struck at the very heart of the United Nations’ Oil-for-Food programme designed to make life easier for the Iraqi people under Saddam Hussein.