Friday Papers: Bank of England holds rates at 0.5% - other news

Financial Times

* The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee voted to hold rates steady at 0.5% and retain its quantitative easing programme to the £200 billion already committed.

* There is growing consensus within the Fed on the need to launch a new programme of quantitative easing – nicknamed QE2 – to boost a recovery that is too weak to bring down the 9.6% unemployment rate.

* PCP Gulf Invest 3, an investment vehicle connected to Sheikh Mansour, owner of Manchester City football club, said on Thursday that it had entered into a hedging deal with Nomura for its entire 6.2% stake in Barclays.

* The European Central Bank is still looking to phase out emergency support for the eurozone financial system, Jean-Claude Trichet, its president has made clear.

* European regulators plan tougher-than-expected restrictions on bankers’ pay, in spite of concerns raised by French, UK and Spanish officials that the rules could make the European Union uncompetitive.

* South Korea has appointed two state-run banks to finance commerce with Iran and revive business ties damaged by sanctions in an effort to protect $10 billion in annual trade with Tehran.

* HSBC has been ordered by US regulators to overhaul its internal controls in the US.

* The Vatican has taken what is believed to be the unprecedented step of resorting to an Italian court in an effort to free €23 million belonging to its bank that was frozen by the Italian authorities.

* Larry Summers, the outgoing director of the White House National Economic Council, said the US must ramp up spending on domestic infrastructure to drive the economic recovery.

* The number of Americans claiming new jobless benefits fell by 11,000 last week to its lowest level since July.

* Citigroup was ordered to pay more than $11 million to resolve allegations that it mishandled the accounts of Larry Hagman, the actor best known for his role on the television soap opera Dallas.