BoE to 'print' extra £25bn - papers

The Bank of England is today set to announce plans to expand its "money printing" programme by a further £25 billion, taking the total to £150 billion, in an effort to force banks to step up lending to consumers and businesses.

According to The Times, the announcement is expected as the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unveils its interest rate decision, with borrowing costs likely to be kept at a historic low of 0.5 per cent in an attempt to lift Britain out of recession. Full story...

Boris Johnson warned today that a draft European directive threatened to "strangle" the City of London by forcing hedge funds out of Europe, The Guardian reports.

The mayor of London fears the implementation of a draft directive on the alternative asset management industries presents a clear threat to London's hedge fund, venture capital and private equity industries. Full story...

Two companies listed on the AIM market in London were at the centre of an international fraud that cost investors $140m (£87m), it is alleged.

The Independent says Ross Mandell, a self-confessed "bad boy" from the era of drug-fuelled trading on Wall Street who was once briefly disbarred from acting as a securities dealer, used the two London-listed companies, Sky Capital Holdings and Sky Capital Enterprises, to fund a lavish lifestyle for himself and to shower gifts on favoured employees, according to criminal and civil charges laid against him yesterday. Full story...

Having endured its sharpest slump in 75 years, the British economy should return to growth in 2010, according to the latest forecasts from the International Monetary Fund, says The Independent.

But leaders of the world's richest nations warned yesterday there were still "significant risks" to the global economy despite recent signs of recovery. Full story...