Bank crisis hits public’s trust in business
Half of British adults say the conduct of banks in the financial crisis has damaged their trust in all businesses, according to an Ipsos MORI survey for the Institute of Business Ethics and Centrica, the owner of British Gas. The findings underline fears that the financial crisis may have undermined consumer confidence in a wide range of companies, damaging brands and leaving business as a whole vulnerable to calls for heavier regulation. Philippa Foster Back, the institute’s director, said: “While British business has so far focused on finding routes to economic recovery, the recovery of public trust is equally important. In the last year we have seen a revival of sorts in public protest against perceived poor corporate ethics, in particular among young people.”

Bullying in the workplace on the rise
The recession has seen a big increase in bullying at work, the Guardian has learned. One in 10 employees experience workplace bullying and harassment, according to the conciliation service Acas, while a survey by the union Unison reports that more than one-third of workers said they were bullied in the past six months, double the number a decade ago. "The fact that bullying has doubled in the past decade is shocking," said Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison. Academics have long warned of the link between economic conditions and bullying, with studies in the 1980s and 1990s predicting that workplace competition and the threat of redundancy were most likely to cause an increase.

Clergy and ministers need protection from Church bullying, Unite union says
A bishop is among the 150 clergy and ministers who have sought protection with the trade union Unite from what it describes as a culture of bullying in the established Church. Most of those who have sought help are in the Church of England but Roman Catholic priests, rabbis and imams have also joined Unite, according to Rachael Maskell, national officer for the union’s faith workers’ branch. Ms Maskell told The Times that bullying and sexual harassment of clergy were serious problems that were not being adequately addressed. One cleric suffered bullying from parishioners when he refused to perform “pagan blessings”, she said. In another parish disgruntled worshippers put notices up around the village, alleging that their vicar was incompetent.

UBS ‘whistleblower’ loses jail-term battle
A former banker with UBS who triggered a huge tax-evasion inquiry by the American authorities into his employer’s business will go to jail this week after failing to secure a deal over a sentence imposed on him last August. Bradley Birkenfeld had pleaded guilty in 2008 to helping a UBS client — Igor Olenicoff, a property developer in California — to evade taxes, but in a plea bargain with prosecutors he agreed to reveal more information about tax evasion in the Swiss banking group in return for a lighter sentence. Lawyers for Birkenfeld say that he should be rewarded as a whistleblower rather than treated as a criminal and he has applied to the Internal Revenue Service for a whistleblower reward which could bring him millions of dollars.

Arrival of 30,000 migrant IT workers 'deprives Britons of jobs’
Tens of thousands of foreign IT workers are being sent to work for their companies’ subsidiaries in Britain, sparking fears that British workers are being denied job opportunities. Almost 30,000 non-EU technology workers entered the country under so-called intra-company transfers last year, with the overwhelming majority coming from India. Most of those arriving came for low and mid-level IT jobs where there are not significant skills shortages among British-born workers, fuelling suspicion that British workers are losing out to foreign workers who are being paid lower wages.

Parties to unveil plans for supermarkets and food
The Tories say they plan to introduce a new supermarket ombudsman to support the interests of farmers against abuses of power by large food retailers. The ombudsman would settle disputes between retailers and suppliers. The Tories will announce the idea at the Oxford Farming Conference, as they call for a "new age of agriculture". Following a long-running inquiry, the competition authorities concluded in 2007 that the supermarket industry was operating in the public interest and leading retailers such as Tesco were not overly dominant. But they called for an ombudsman to resolve disputes and ensure retailers did not exploit relationships with suppliers to push through unfair or retrospective contractual agreements.

British Gas fails to pass on £400 boiler grants to customers
British Gas is profiting from the Government’s boiler scrappage scheme by failing to pass on the full value of the grants. The company is refusing to offer its usual discounts to customers who apply for a £400 grant. Some homes could be better off ignoring the scheme and negotiating a discount with an installation company. British Gas denied failing to pass on the full benefit of the £400 scrappage grant but their spokeswoman admitted that some customers could save almost as much by taking up existing unsubsidised discount deals. “It’s about choosing what’s right for you,” she said.

Britain must grow more sustainable food, says Benn
Britain must grow more food, while using less water and reducing emission of greenhouse gases, to respond to the challenge of climate change and growing world populations, the environment secretary, Hilary Benn, said yesterday. "Food security is as important to this country's future wellbeing, and the world's, as energy security. We need to produce more food. We need to do it sustainably. And we need to make sure what we eat safeguards our health," he said. Nick Herbert, the shadow environment secretary, told the conference he welcomed "belated" recognition of the importance of increasing food production in Britain.

Snowed in, out of pocket. Store staff face a wage freeze
Millions of snowbound workers risk losing pay or holiday entitlement because some of Britain's top employers have refused to rule out penalising staff who are unable to get to work. As heavy snow paralysed swaths of Britain today, unions warned that "scrooge bosses" who dock pay or holiday will cause "unnecessary resentment". As a snap poll by employment law form Peninsula revealed almost half (44%) of workers stayed at home today, the TUC general secretary Brendan Barber urged a "sensible" approach." "Workers who have been prevented from getting to work despite their best efforts should not have to foot the bill for bad weather conditions".

Top British firms drag their feet to reduce carbon footprints
Greenhouse gas targets set by many of Britain's largest companies are too weak to meet UK commitments on climate change, a new analysis shows. A report from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) says a lack of ambition from companies in the energy, materials and utilities sector threatens government plans to cut emissions by 2020. The CDP report found that 77% of FTSE 100 companies said they have a target to reduce emissions, with an average annual reduction rate of 2.5%. However, the average annual emissions reductions planned by the firms in the energy, utilities and materials sectors total 1.2%. There are only 24 of these companies in the FTSE 100, but they account for 87% of all FTSE 100 reported emissions.

BA and cabin crew to meet with an eye on settlement
Union leaders representing British Airways cabin crew have agreed to hold talks with the airline this week in an attempt to reach a negotiated settlement of a dispute that has threatened to disrupt services. Even as Unite prepares to meet with management for the first time since talks collapsed before Christmas, the union was pressing ahead with plans to ballot members for a second time on potential strike action. A High Court judge granted an emergency injunction against a 12-day cabin crew strike planned for the Christmas period because the union had included staff who had taken voluntary redundancy.

Bus industry inquiry launched
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has referred the UK's local bus services to the Competition Commission over concerns about pricing. The OFT said it had found evidence that limited competition between operators tended to result in higher prices and lower quality for passengers. The OFT said that a quarter of all tenders issued by local authorities to provide new bus services receive only one bid. It added that it had received complaints about the "predatory behaviour" of incumbent firms, designed to exclude new players from entering the market.

Unsold H&M clothes found in rubbish bags as homeless face winter chill
The clothing megastore H&M has found itself at the centre of an angry protest after one of its leading outlets in Manhattan was accused of cutting up unsold garments and dumping them in rubbish bags on the street. The claim that the global chain was destroying unused clothes in the middle of one of the bitterest winters and deepest recessions to have hit New York in many years led to an outpouring of angry comments on Twitter. The company, based in Sweden, said it was looking into the incident and emphasised its commitment to community responsibility.

Corruption probe into oil partners
US and Ghanaian authorities are investigating corruption allegations involving a Texas oil company and the local partner that helped it secure control of the Ghanaian oil block that yielded one of Africa's biggest recent discoveries. The case risks complicating efforts by Texas company Kosmos to sell its stake in the Jubilee oil field to ExxonMobil in a deal valued at $4bn. Kosmos, which denies any wrongdoing, is owned by US private equity groups Blackstone and Warburg Pincus.

Bonus time as banks pay out £40bn
The world's biggest investment banks are expected to pay out more than $65bn (£40bn) in salaries and bonuses in the next two weeks, reinforcing the view that it is business as usual on Wall Street and in the City barely a year since the taxpayer bailout of the banking system. Despite efforts by Alistair Darling to deter banks from handing out multi-million pound bonuses through the introduction of a 50% windfall tax, City sources believe that the biggest employers will absorb the cost of the tax rather than cut the size of the bonus pools they amass throughout the year.

Peers criticise food industry secrecy on nanotechnology
The UK food industry comes under attack from peers today for being secretive over its development of nanotechnology in food and drink. The Lords science and technology committee is urging the government and research councils to carry out more checks into the use of nanomaterials in food and in particular the dangers for the human body. Nanotechnology involves whittling common materials down to the size of microscopic particles, allowing them to acquire unusual properties. Nanoparticles have been used in cosmetics and sun-cream products. They can help create foods which taste the same as conventional alternatives but have lower fat, salt or sugar levels, or enrich foods with supplements, or even be used in packaging to extend products' shelf-life.

AIG bail-out attracts further scrutiny
The government bail-out of AIG’s counterparties was placed under fresh scrutiny on Thursday with the publication of e-mails showing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York pushing the insurance group to keep details of the deal private. Unresolved in the e-mail traffic between lawyers and regulators is whether the New York Fed, regulator to much of Wall Street, acted out of concern for the market or for its own political position. The Fed has made no secret of its attempts to prevent the disclosure of the names of the banks who received payments. Officials at the central bank argued publicly last year that disclosure would hurt AIG’s future business and could destabilise the market.

Belgian brewery workers take hostages over cuts
Workers at a brewery in Belgium took their managers hostage yesterday after the maker of Stella Artois and Becks announced that it would cut a tenth of its European workforce. The company, which also brews beers such as Budweiser, Boddingtons and Michelob, expects to cut 800 of its 8,000 workforce in Europe, mainly in Belgium, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. In Belgium, where AB InBev representatives met on Thursday with unions to announce the redundancies, several employees at the Jupiler brewery held about ten managers hostage for 11 hours. The workers demanded to speak to officials at head office, finally letting the managers go early yesterday morning.

ABI warns blue chips not to use consultants to dodge high tax rate
Britain’s biggest investment institutions have issued a warning to blue-chip company directors not to rely on unscrupulous pay consultants and not to endanger corporate reputation by approving elaborate schemes to help executives to dodge tax. The Association of British Insurers, whose members control about 15 per cent of the stock market, has written to the remuneration committee chairmen of Britain’s biggest 350 listed companies, urging them to be on their mettle as the annual boardroom pay and bonus season reaches its climax. Peter Montagnon, director for investment affairs at the ABI and the author of the letter, said: “They can’t simply hire consultants to tell them how to get round the ABI guidelines.”

UK fraud losses rise to a high of £2.1bn
Losses from frauds reported by UK companies soared 76 per cent last year to nearly £2.1bn, the highest total since accounting firm BDO began keeping records in 2003. The losses easily surpassed the record of £1.37bn set in 2006, and the 363 cases also set an all-time high, easily topping last year’s total of 285 incidents. Many of the newly reported cases involve frauds that were initiated during the economic boom and are now being uncovered as companies take a closer look at their expenses and revenue. Simon Bevan, head of BDO’s fraud services team, said he expected the numbers to keep growing as UK businesses cope with the fallout from the recession. “We’re a long way from the top. I think we will reach £5bn annually in this recession,” he said.

US banks braced for bonus backlash
Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other big banks are bracing for a renewed public and political backlash against their compensation plans as they prepare to unveil multi-billion dollar bonus packages. Under pressure from government, banks are already saying they will devote the smallest percentage of annual revenues in years to their employees. But the raw numbers will still be big enough to provoke public anger, while also prompting internal dissent from traders and bankers who will see a larger share of their bonuses deferred. Wall Street’s profits surged last year as debt markets reopened and stocks rebounded, putting many bankers, traders and back-office executives in a position to reap bonuses nearing their earnings during boom years of the past decade.

Goldman Sachs weighs requirement for charity
As it prepares to pay out big bonuses to employees, Goldman Sachs is considering expanding a program that would require executives and top managers to give a certain percentage of their earnings to charity. The move would be the latest in a series of initiatives by Goldman to soften criticism over the size of its bonuses, which are expected to be among the largest on Wall Street, bringing average pay to about $595,000 for each employee — with far higher amounts for top performers. The charity idea would be similar to a decades-long program at the failed investment bank Bear Stearns, which required more than 1,000 of its top workers to give 4 percent of their pay to charity each year and then checked their tax returns to ensure compliance.

FSA to clamp down on bankers earning over £1m
The UK's financial services watchdog is to hit bankers earning more than £1m a year with a new tax that will apply to this year's bonuses, as it emerged that the US investment bank JP Morgan Chase is to defy calls for restraint by paying out bumper bonuses for 2009. Over the weekend, Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London waded into the ongoing row by saying in a letter that up to 9,000 of the UK finance industry's top brass could flee these shores because of taxation on bonuses.

Harriet Harman to announce plans to scrap forced retirement
Harriet Harman, the Minister for Women and Equality, is to argue that a major change in the law is needed to alter the perception that people are "past it" once they reach 65. Labour's deputy leader will today announce a fast-track Government review of the retirement age, and will argue it is "arbitrary" and "bears no relation to people's ability".

Doctors and nurses could see careers 'ended unfairly by ISA'
Doctors and nurses could see their careers ended by the Government’s controversial vetting agency even if they have been cleared of any wrongdoing by their professional standards bodies. Health care workers who are investigated for misconduct by their own industries will also face scrutiny from the new Independent Safeguarding Authority, which will make the final decision on whether they are deemed safe to work with children and vulnerable adults. They will have limited rights of appeal if they are barred, which many fear puts their livelihoods at risk without the opportunity to challenge such decisions.

China wraps up investigations into Rio Tinto executives over alleged espionage
China has wrapped up investigations into the case of detained Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu, but it remains unclear whether or not he will face trial. The case is now in the hands of the prosecutor, who will decide whether or not the case will be brought to trial. Mr Hu, the Shanghai-based head of Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in China and an Australian passport holder, was detained by the Chinese government in July last year with three Chinese colleagues on suspicion of stealing state secrets. The accusations were later downgraded to to industrial espionage, centring on alleged bribery during high-stakes iron ore contract talks.

McEnroe is troubled by Russian's 'bribery' ban
John McEnroe came to the defence yesterday of a 24-year-old Russian player who has been punished for failing to inform the sport's authorities that she had been asked to influence the result of matches. The tennis integrity unit, which investigates allegations of betting-related corruption, fined Ekaterina Bychkova $5,000 (about £3,100) and banned her for 30 days. McEnroe, who said that match-fixing was "a huge concern" for tennis, felt Bychkova's punishment would dissuade other players from being honest.

Tobacco corporations lobby to hamper passing of EU health laws, say academics
Major corporations, led by British American Tobacco, waged a successful lobbying campaign to hamper the passing of public health legislation and weaken its impact, a group of academics claim today. Proposals to restrict smoking in public were in BAT's sights in the 1990s but the changes the lobbying brought about to EU policymaking have been fundamental and enduring, say the academics.

RBS now a 'prisoner of market' over large bonuses
Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, has warned that the government-backed lender has no choice but to pay large bonuses to its top employees as it has become a "prisoner of the market". He told MPs that RBS would pay the "minimum we can get away with" but that failure to pay market rates would limit its ability to keep good people.

European Commission investigates drug companies
The European Commission is investigating big drug companies, including AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), over concerns that sweetheart deals are delaying the introduction of cheaper, generic medicines. The investigation into drug companies is focusing on patent settlement agreements, in particular those where an originator company pays a competitor to delay market entry of a generic drug.

Wall Street bankers admit to mistakes over crisis
Wall Street’s top bankers have apologised for their starring role in provoking the global financial crisis as they brace themselves for details of a looming $120bn (£73bn) tax on profits. The new tax , due to be announced on Thursday by the Obama administration, is designed to calm an angry American public and help fill the black-hole left by the US’s $700bn bail-out of the banking industry.

Union urges Cadbury shareholders to put British jobs before profits
Trade union leaders have written to Cadbury shareholders, claiming that a £10.5 billion hostile takeover by Kraft would put tens of thousands of British jobs at risk and urging them not to sell to the American predator. Kraft has insisted from the outset of its bid for Cadbury that it would not close plants or make redundancies.

Supermarkets round on state's big brother plan
Britain's largest grocery chains have criticised the Government's decision to appoint an ombudsman to police their relationships with farmers and other suppliers. Kevin Brennan, the consumer minister, announced yesterday that he had accepted a recommendation by the Competition Commission to introduce an "enforcement body" to oversee a new supermarket-supplier code of practice that comes into force next month. Consultation on the "nature and role" of the enforcement body will commence within weeks.

Car giants giving false hope of emission-free future, report says
Car companies are raising false hopes of emission-free motoring in order to continue profiting from large, fuel-hungry vehicles, according to a study. Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells are not expected to be available widely until after 2050 because of the high cost of the platinum in their catalysts. Battery-powered vehicles will also remain a niche product because of their limited battery life.

China set to ignore Google demands for end to censorship
China made clear yesterday that it would ignore an ultimatum from Google to relax internet censorship, and reminded all companies that they must abide strictly by state controls of the country’s cyberspace. Google has pledged to close its Chinese Google.cn service if censorship is not lifted after it reported cyber attacks through its systems against human rights activists and about 20 companies, including Google itself, originating from China.

Obama: 'We want our money back – every single dime'
Barack Obama channelled popular anger against Wall Street bonuses yesterday as he announced a $117bn (£72bn) tax on the finance industry. The levy will hit about 50 institutions and be spread out over at least the next 10 years, with bigger and riskier institutions forced to pay the most, something that the President said would help to change behaviour and prevent a repeat of the credit crisis.

India warned over governance
India needs to strengthen corporate governance laws urgently or risk the integrity of its capital markets and a slump in foreign investor participation, according to a study to be published on Tuesday. Reforms are needed in investor voting processes, related-party transactions, corporate disclosure and the auditing profession, says the Asian Corporate Governance Association, an advocacy group in Hong Kong. Deficiencies in India’s corporate governance regime attracted international scrutiny last year when the head of Satyam Computer Services admitted to defrauding the company over a number of years.

Auditors required to adopt UK code
The biggest audit firms must appoint independent non-executives to help reduce the risk of an Andersen-style collapse, according to the terms of a radical UK governance code published on Monday. The Audit Firm Governance Code – drawn up at the request of the Financial Reporting Council – is the first time the “big four” accounting firms will be required to adopt a code similar to that governing the companies they audit in the UK.

Cut-price gas deals 'put patients at risk'
Hospitals have been accused of putting patients at risk by agreeing cut-price energy contracts that allow their gas supplies to be cut off with just a few hours' warning. The pressure group Health Emergency said it was "beyond belief" that St Bartholomew's in central London and 100 other NHS establishments had signed interruptible contracts. "This is all part of the massive cuts drive within the NHS that has seen administrators encouraged by outside accountants to save money by signing contracts that mean they cannot rely on gas supplies from one day to the next," said Geoff Martin, chairman of Health Emergency.

Goldman Sachs bankers 'set for 81% rise in bonuses'
Goldman Sachs bankers are forecast to enjoy an 81% rise in their pay and bonuses for 2009, even though the bank may be forced to respond to political pressure by reducing the amount of money it sets aside for employee payouts in the fourth quarter of the year.Goldman is braced for a furore this week when it completes the US bank reporting season on Thursday, following the row sparked by rival JP ­Morgan when it disclosed on Friday that it would be handing out $9.3bn (£5.7bn) in bonuses and salaries for 2009.

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Miners' efforts fail to cut death toll
The leading UK-listed mining companies have failed to bring down the number of fatalities at their global operations over the past five years in spite of considerable efforts to do so.  Financial Times survey of five leading UK-listed mining groups - Rio Tinto, Vedanta, Anglo American, Xstrata and BHP Billiton - has found the number of fatalities has stayed the same since 2004. Anglo American is the only miner surveyed that has reduced fatality figures consistently, though its volume of deaths is the highest. Discounting Anglo - whose number of fatalities dwarfs the rest - the companies recorded 23 deaths in 2004-05, while in 2008 this more than doubled to 54. Anglo reported 49 fatalities in 2005, but cut this figure to 27 in 2008.

Families getting poor bank deal quadruples
Britain’s banking ombudsman said there were 2,000 cases of banks and other lenders leaving customers in financial hardship during 2008 compared with 8,000 last year. Excessive overdraft charges left many low-income households unable to pay their rent or mortgages, along with other household bills including fuel payments and council tax.

Gordon Brown warns America's Kraft over Cadbury job cuts
Gordon Brown today fired a warning shot at Kraft, outlining his determination to secure jobs at Cadbury, the 186-year old maker of Dairy Milk chocolate, which has agreed to be taken over by the American company for £11.9 billion. The Prime Minster was speaking after the board of Cadbury, which employs 45,000 staff including 9,000 in the UK, announced that it would recommend an 850p a share offer from Kraft, ending one of the City's most fiercely contested bid battles.

Davos 2010: Survey highlights 'crisis of ethics'
More than two thirds of people believe the current economic crisis is also a crisis of ethics and values, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) opinion poll. The survey, based on 130,000 Facebook members from ten G20 economies, also found that only a quarter of people believe that large, multi-national companies have a "values-driven" approach to their sectors. The proportion rose to 40pc for small and medium-sized businesses. Half of respondents - in France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the US - believed that universal values exist.

Doorstep energy sales rules are tightened
New rules that ensure doorstep energy salesmen hand over a written quote have come into force. The changes, aimed at preventing cases of mis-selling, started on Monday after an investigation by the energy regulator Ofgem into household bills. Tighter rules on energy contracts for small businesses have also come in. Energy companies must give small businesses clear contracts, and more notice of when a new contract can be negotiated. A series of measures to ensure the fairer treatment of customers are being phased in after the new rules were set by the regulator. Ofgem started the investigation into the state of the energy market in the UK in February 2008.

Credit Suisse to slash City bonuses
Credit Suisse is to cut planned bonus pay-outs to senior City of London staff by more than a third, becoming the first bank to pass on the bulk of the contentious supertax on bonuses to bankers. The move, which follows last week's announcement from JPMorgan that it had sharply cut its compensation ratio and which coincides with an overhaul of pay at Citigroup, goes against the consensus view in the City that banks are likely to absorb most of the 50% supertax.

Glaxo offers free access to potential malaria cures
The chief executive of the world's second biggest pharmaceutical company will today announce that he is putting into the public domain thousands of potential drugs that might cure malaria. Andrew Witty, the British boss of Glaxo-SmithKline, will say in a major speech that multinational drug companies have to balance social responsibility alongside the need to make profits for their shareholders. There is, he will say, an "imperative to earn the trust of society, not just by meeting expectations but by exceeding them".

Drinks industry 'seducing teenagers'
A row has broken out between the alcohol industry and Britain's leading medical journal over allegations that the industry is using dubious tactics to promote its products to young people. Internal industry documents obtained by the Commons Health Select Committee for its recent report on alcohol reveal that firms are "pushing the boundaries" of the code on alcohol advertising, according to researchers writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). They say market research on 15- and 16-year-olds is used to guide the development of campaigns and that many references were made to the need to recruit new drinkers and establish their loyalty.

Obama announces dramatic crackdown on Wall Street banks
President Barack Obama today declared his intent to take on Wall Street by announcing plans for stringent rules on the banking sector that prompted comparisons with the draconian regulations introduced after the Great Depression. In the boldest move taken by any government around the world to respond to the financial crisis, Obama told banks they would no longer be able to take risky bets with their own capital to make money on the financial markets.

FSA fines Standard Life £2.45m over marketing
Standard Life has been fined £2.45 million by the City regulator after inappropriately targeting a £2.2 billion pension fund at investors who were close to retirement and looking for a safe place for capital. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) found that the Edinburgh-based insurer had published misleading marketing material stating that the fund was 100 per cent invested in cash when actually it was holding more precarious bond-like floating-rate notes.

Workers get bigger pay rises than their bosses
The heads of Britain's biggest firms gave their staff bigger pay rises last year than they received themselves – for the first time in a decade. Britain's 100 largest companies gave their staff an average pay rise of 2.5 per cent in 2009, research to be published by the accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) will show today, while the executives that ran the businesses got increases in pay and bonuses of only 1 per cent. A string of revolts by shareholders at companies including Marks & Spencer, Shell and Cable & Wireless – as well as the furore over the pay and bonuses awarded to top bankers – has seen many companies review their policies on compensation for senior staff.

Allen & Overy adapts to encourage women
Allen & Overy, the fourth-largest of the City’s “magic circle” law firms, said yesterday it would allow its top partners to work part-time in an effort to encourage more women into the role. As at most City firms, Allen & Overy already allows junior lawyers and support staff to take up flexible working. But equity partners have been regarded as too important not to be working full time. David Morley, Allen & Overy’s senior partner, said the reason for the lack of female partners was not sexism but because many young women found the prospect of becoming a partner unappealing. Law firms have not been active enough at offering alternatives to keep them, he added.

BA will axe travel perks for cabin crew who strike
British Airways has warned its 12,000 cabin crew that they will be permanently stripped of their travel perks if they go on strike. On the eve of a fresh ballot for industrial action, beginning on Monday, the UK-flag carrier ratcheted up the pressure on crew by threatening to remove the coveted travel privileges from any staff who took part in a walkout. The warning came in a letter from Bill Francis, BA's head of cabin crew. He added that any staff who downed tools would also lose their pay and associated days off for any trips they missed.

Fears of public outcry as UK banks prepare to announce £25bn profits
Britain's biggest banks are to announce profits of up to £25bn raising fresh fears of a public backlash against the sector that was propped up by billions of pounds of taxpayer money less than two years ago. Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered, three of the Big Five UK banks, are planning to radically alter their bonus pools in an attempt to head off political attacks of the type seen in America. Last week President Barack Obama said he was "up for a fight" with the banks including Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan and announced plans to break apart the sector in the US.

Kraft pledge: we will invest in Cadbury and create more jobs
Kraft has pledged to create more jobs in the UK and increase Cadbury's growth plans as it tries to head off a public backlash against its £11.9bn take over of the British confectionery firm. In his first public comments on the deal, Michael Osanloo, executive vice-president, strategy, of Kraft and the man in charge of the integration of Cadbury into the US giant, said that the British company was a valuable asset which would be looked after. His comments come ahead of meeting with the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, where Kraft executives will be asked to explain how they will protect jobs and investment in the UK.

Campaign to save tropical forests failed by food giants
Western food manufacturers are buying so little sustainable palm oil that the system set up to limit damage to tropical forests caused by the world's cheapest vegetable oil is in danger of collapse. Palm-oil producers say the industry may quit the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) because so few firms are financially backing the scheme. The first certified RSPO supplies arrived in Europe in November 2008, yet only 27 per cent of present supply has so been sold, leading to claims of hypocrisy among Western buyers. Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Allied Bakeries and even Unilever did not buy any separate certified RSPO oil last year, though Tesco and Asda "offset" small quantities by buying GreenPalm certificates for Rspo production elsewhere.

Why poor moral ethics prove costly
A successful economy hinges on trust. Trade must be mutually advantageous the vast majority of the time, with buyer and seller both content. If we are cheated 1 per cent of the time, we are dismayed, but we write it off. If we are cheated 10 per cent of the time, we practise “defensive trade.” We draft contracts carefully, seeking to anticipate every possible abuse. In 2004, I wrote a piece in the Financial Analysts Journal on the distinction between moral ethics (doing only what is right) versus legal ethics (doing only what is allowed). In a very real sense, the credit bubble and its aftermath hinges on this conflict. Worse, we are going further down this path, at a prodigious pace.

Goldman Sachs slashes London superstars’ pay to £1m
Goldman Sachs, the American investment bank, is capping the salary and bonus packages of its top London staff at £1m. Senior bankers and star traders will be given details of the clampdown later this week. The new limit is likely to cause consternation among the bank’s biggest earners, an elite group dubbed the Masters of the Universe, who have in good years been handed bonuses topping £10m each. The cap comes amid continuing public anger at the size of banker bonuses. Goldman is prepared to run the risk that some of its top traders could quit in protest.

Shell to look beyond tar sands
Royal Dutch Shell’s expansion in Canada’s controversial tar sands will be “very much slower” than in recent years, the company’s new chief executive has said, as the group makes a strategic shift away from high-cost “unconventional” oil production. Peter Voser, who took over at Europe’s second-largest oil and gas group in July, told the Financial Times that Shell now planned to rely more on conventional oil and gas reserves for its future growth. The shift back to conventional oil and gas represents a break from the strategy of Jeroen van der Veer, Shell’s previous chief, who planned a steep rise in the share of the company’s production coming from unconventional resources.

Goldman caps partners' pay at £1m each
Goldman Sachs' 100 UK-based partners are capping their 2009 pay and bonus packages at £1 million each in a bid to ease public anger at huge payouts, it was reported today. The investment bank's move represents a sacrifice of several hundred million pounds, according to the BBC, with one executive saying it wants to be seen to be "exercising restraint". But many UK executives below partner level will still earn more than £1 million, the BBC said.

BHP, Rio Tinto face Euro competition inquiry
European competition authorities today opened an investigation into BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto’s huge iron ore joint venture in Western Australia. Anti-trust officials will investigate whether the proposed $116bn project by two of the world’s three biggest iron ore producers breeches rules on price fixing. Neither company commented on the investigation today, but industry bodies have criticised the joint venture. Eurofer, which represents the interests of a number of steel makers, said that it remained opposed to the deal.

Scrap fixed retirement age, says equality body
Older workers will be able to continue in their jobs well into their 70s, 80s and even 90s, under proposals published today to scrap the national retirement age. The call by MPs and equality groups to end work-place discrimination for pensioners is supported by new findings which show that the majority of older Britons do not want to give up jobs and careers when they reach 65. The move to reform the law is supported by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) which says the case for abolition has been made and if implemented would enrich the lives of millions of pensioners.

HSBC chairman hits at big bonuses
Stephen Green, chairman of HSBC and the British Bankers’ Association, has hit out at the inflated level and distorted structure of bonuses, predicting future pay-outs will be lower and more rationally calculated. Mr Green, a devout Christian, and author of Good Value, a book on the morals of banking through the ages, said the industry “had very good reason to be uncomfortable, looking backwards”. He added: “As this newer environment beds down, I think you will see a market working in a way that we don’t need to be ashamed of.”

Unhappiness at work rises to record level
Job satisfaction has dropped to a record low – with a particularly sharp fall among young people – as the pressures of recession take their toll, according to a leading business group. A study of 2,000 workers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development suggests that, even if official figures on Tuesday mark an end to the recession, employees are still paying a high price in job insecurity and stress. The CIPD’s survey, conducted by YouGov, found job satisfaction levels had fallen from a net +48 last summer to +35. Job satisfaction among people aged 18 to 24 fell from +44 to just +5. Happiness at work was higher among older age groups, with those aged 55-64 most satisfied.

Ethics: ‘Islands of best practice in sea of poor to middling ones’
Unilever is proud of the medical care, schooling, clean water and renewable energy it provides for the 20,000 workers and their 80,000 dependents on its tea plantation in Kericho, Kenya. The site sets standards the company aims to replicate worldwide. With brands such as Lipton and Brooke Bond, Unilever produces about 12 per cent of the world’s black tea. This makes it a good place to start implementing Rainforest Alliance certification for sustainable farming, says Miguel Veiga-Pestana, vice president for global external affairs.

Church may withdraw investment in Vedanta over ethics row
The Church of England will decide this week whether to maintain its investment in the controversial FTSE 100 listed mining group Vedanta Resources, after coming under pressure to sell its £2.5m stake in the group. Members of the Church's Ethical Advisory Group will hold their first session since visiting the miner's operations in India last year. Its advice will be passed to the Church's investment managers who will then decide whether or not to withdraw the cash. Vedanta, which yesterday said it would only comment when the Church's final decision was known, is accused of breaching the rights of the indigenous Dongria Kondh tribe in Orissa.

Twitter works on technology to evade censors
Twitter, the internet social network, is developing technology it hopes will prevent the Chinese and Iranian governments being able to censor its users. Evan Williams, the chief executive and co-founder of Twitter, which has been credited with helping anti-government protesters in Iran to organise resistance, said software developers were working on “interesting hacks” to stop any blocking by foreign governments. Mr Williams was among executives of social networks, including MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn, which were challenged in a debate in Davos to make a statement against censorship.

Daily Mail owner faces investor ire over pay
The Daily Mail is no stranger to attacking the fat cats over their bumper bonuses, but the newspaper's parent company was itself in the spotlight yesterday after corporate governance advisers raised concerns over its pay deals. Pirc and Manifest, which advise investors on company best practice, have both flagged remuneration as a concern at Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT). The company hands its senior managers an annual bonus, but Pirc believes its targets are not challenging enough. As a result, the group recommended shareholders oppose the remuneration report when they vote at the annual meeting next month.

Dairy pays bonus to staff who beat snow
Dairies firm Robert Wiseman said today it was paying £100 bonuses to its 3,500 staff for battling through the snow to keep the nation's milk flowing. The bonus, which is costing Wiseman £400,000, comes after record sales in the week to January 9 when the weather disruption was at its height. The staff bonus was "in recognition of the efforts made by our employees in getting milk collected, processed and delivered at this difficult time", the firm said. Wiseman buys, processes and distributes more than one in every four litres of fresh milk consumed in Britain every day.

French giant Vivendi misled its investors
French media giant Vivendi will have to pay damages that could total millions of dollars after a US jury found that it misled investors. The case centred on Vivendi's financial state between October 2000 and August 2002, during which time its shares lost about 90% of their value following a merger with French television group Canal+ and the acquisition of Universal Studios from Canadian company Seagram.

1,200 Tube jobs at risk in secret plan, says union
Union leaders claimed today that London Underground bosses were secretly drawing up plans to save £5 billion in spending which will see 144 station ticket offices close and up to 1,200 jobs threatened with the axe. The Rail Maritime and Transport union said managers had been called to a "high level" meeting of senior staff today to discuss spending cuts. Transport for London denied there were any plans to make an announcement about cuts.

SA investigates World Cup airline price-fixing
Six South African airlines are being investigated for allegedly colluding to hike fares for local flights during the football World Cup in June. The country's presidency said it had received public complaints that fares had become "drastically high". South African Airways has agreed to provide the Competition Commission with evidence against the other airlines. In 2006, SAA was fined 55m rand ($7m; £4.5m at current prices) after being found guilty of price-fixing with German carrier Lufthansa. The airline was also fined on two-charges of anti-competitive behaviour.

Davos: Toyota chief says 'sorry' for recall crisis
The president of Toyota today said sorry for making customers feel “uneasy” after the Japanese carmaker was forced to recall millions of cars across the global because of faulty accelerator pedals. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Akio Toyoda said: “We’re extremely sorry to have made customers feel uneasy.” After a day of increasing anxiety among Britain’s 1.3 million Toyota owners, the manufacturer admitted that 1.8 million cars across Europe could have defective accelerator pedals. Owners have been told that their cars may have a potentially lethal defect that is believed to have led to 19 deaths in the US.

Carmakers hit as Toyota recall crisis spreads
The Toyota recall crisis threatened to engulf Peugeot and Citroën last night as the Japanese motor manufacturer admitted that 1.8 million cars across Europe could have defective accelerator pedals. It has emerged that the safety scare may also affect the Peugeot 107 and the Citroën C1, which are built at the same Czech plant and use the same parts as the Toyota Aygo, one of eight models that Toyota has warned could be defective. n a separate development another Japanese manufacturer, Honda, said it was recalling 171,000 of its Jazz superminis in Britain after an electrical defect killed a toddler in the model in South Africa.

Austrian count accused of paying bribes for BAE
An Austrian aristocrat accused of paying bribes on behalf of BAE Systems yesterday became the first person to be charged in the long inquiry into alleged corruption by Europe’s biggest defence contractor. BAE Systems has always insisted that it had no knowledge of illegal payments and that the deals were conducted before Britain outlawed bribery in foreign countries.

French bank faces broadside on ‘greenwash’ ads
One of the world’s biggest banks is to be referred to advertising watchdogs over a campaign fronted by Sir Sean Connery that highlights its green credentials. Friends of the Earth, the campaigning group, called the marketing push from Crédit Agricole “the worst example of greenwash we’ve ever seen”. Calyon, Crédit Agricole’s investment-banking arm, is one of the primary funders of oil exploration in the developing world. Last year it led a syndicate of banks that lent $520m (£324m) to Trafigura, the Swiss oil giant that was caught dumping toxic waste off the Ivory Coast.

Parents furious over 'hypocrisy' of cereal ad
Parents have accused the cereal maker Kellogg's of hypocrisy for suggesting pupils snack on Coco Pops while publicly backing a Government campaign against child obesity. The US manufacturer is advertising on bus stops with the slogan: "Ever thought of Coco Pops after school?", and running television adverts showing a pupil tucking in to a bowl accompanied by its famous cartoon monkey. The adverts appear to clash with the cereal company's support for the Department of Health's fat-reduction programme aimed at halting sharply rising rates of obesity.