Madoff gets $14k rebate; RBS cuts overdraft penalties - papers

The disgraced financier Bernie Madoff has received a $13,800 (£8,500) tax rebate, angering clients who lost billions in the biggest Ponzi scheme in Wall Street history.

The jailed fraudster was sent the money after overpaying the property taxes on his waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, which his wife still owns despite other assets being seized by investigators who unravelled his $65bn investment scam.

According to the Guardian, the rebate cheque was issued last month and made payable to Ruth and Bernard Madoff. Ruth Madoff sent the cheque back to the tax office asking that it be reissued with her husband's name removed.

Ruth Madoff successfully challenged the property's 2008 valuation of $9.4m, resulting in a revaluation to $8.5m and a 9% discount in the couple's tax bill of $151,000. Full story...

ROYAL BANK of Scotland (RBS) has reduced its future overdraft charges before a decision is reached in the long-running court battle over the legality of the controversial fees levied by banks and building societies reports the Times.

The decision to lower the charges, which also affects customers of NatWest, the RBS subsidiary, will see the cost of a bounced cheque or an unpaid direct debit or standing order fall from £38 to £5. The charge for paying for an item on an overdrawn account will be halved to £15. The new fees will come into effect on 1 October.

A recent investigation by Which?, the consumer association, found that RBS's penalty charges for unauthorised overdrafts were the highest among 13 biggest banks and building societies. Full story...

RETAIL SALES fell in August after two months of increases, casting doubt on a prolonged recovery in High Street consumer spending, according to the BBC.

UK like-for-like sales - which do not include new stores - fell 0.1% compared with the same month last year, said the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Sales rose by 1.8% in July and by 1.4% in June against a year earlier. Total sales growth, which includes the impact of new stores, rose by 2.2%. Full story...