Monday Papers: BP oil spill well effectively dead, says US - other news

Financial Times

* The US authorities pronounced BP’s blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico “effectively dead” on Sunday.

* Walmart is gearing up for a move into small convenience stores in urban markets such as Chicago and Los Angeles.

* Strong investor demand for junk bonds has pushed the average price on such corporate debt to its highest level since June 2007; the Bank of America Merrill Lynch index rose last week above 100 for the first time since the start of the credit crunch.

* Malaysia’s central bank has bought renminbi-denominated bonds for its reserves.

* The "troika" The International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank - has agreed with Greece’s central bank to delay testing the solvency of the country’s struggling bank sector by one month to the end of October.

* Investec is about to test the market with a £250m securitisation of “non-standard” mortgages, including some subprime loans.

* The UK’s Pensions Regulator has been given leave to seek up to £150m from the assets of Lehman Brothers.

* Punishment by UK financial regulators causes losses to shareholders that on average are 10 times the size of the fine itself, a new study by three academics at Oxford University has found.

The Guardian

* Bmi facing high court battle over pay freezes.

* The bosses of Britain's biggest banks have been hauled in to meetings with Sir John Vickers ahead of the publication this week of the key issues he intends to examine in his independent review of banking.