Osborne raids town hall pensions for cash – papers

Chancellor George Osborne will access the £140bn held in 80 local authority pension funds to pay for infrastructure projects.

The news comes after Osborne announced his intention to use pension money to build new roads, homes and bridges, the Times reports.

Local government representatives will meet the Chancellor this week to discuss the plan. Public sector unions, which are negotiating with the government over pension reform, condemned the plan as "risky".

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UK banks ‘vulnerable' to Euro debt contagion
The Bank of England's (BoE) handling of the banking sector has left it unable to cope if the European debt crisis spreads to the UK, city analysts have said.

The BoE's refusal to put in place support programmes for struggling banks will leave them with "few or no backstops", a UBS said.

The report also said the lack of an emergency scheme to support the banking system if a crisis occurred has already pushed up costs for banks, the Telegraph reports.

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British loan companies could face fines
The European Commission has accused some British subprime loan providers of "misleading" customers after an investigation.

In an EU-wide investigation of subprime lending, carried out in the UK by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the Commission said that 38 websites for lenders omitted key information and misled consumers on prices.

The OFT has the power to fine companies it finds in breach of consumer credit advertising regulations, the Telegraph reports.

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