Mutuals fear NRock plan will distort market - papers

Northern Rock should not be allowed to complete a planned restructuring without paying financial penalties, Britain's building societies have told European competition regulators, on the grounds that the nationalised mortgage lender will otherwise have an unfair advantage.

Northern Rock should not be allowed to complete a planned restructuring without paying financial penalties, Britain's building societies have told European competition regulators, on the grounds that the nationalised mortgage lender will otherwise have an unfair advantage.

According to the Telegraph, in its submission to the European Commission, the Building Societies Association (BSA) argued that Northern Rock should be forced to pay a fee as a condition of European state aid approval to prevent any distortion of the mortgage market.

Northern Rock is planning to split into a "good bank", BankCo, which will continue to lend, and a "bad bank", AssetCo, which will house and run down the bad loans. Full story...

FTSE 100 chief executives still took home bonuses equal to 90 per cent of their basic pay, despite plummeting profits and dividends at top companies, reports The Independent.

Research by the pay consultancy Hewitt New Bridge Street found that the median salary for a FTSE 100 chief executive was £800,000 last year, meaning the bonus would be £720,000.

It also found that 40 per cent of FTSE 100 companies had handed pay rises to their directors despite the impact of the recession on profits. Full story...