Wednesday Papers: Posen calls for QE to be resumed - other news

Financial Times

* The UK faces a long period of sluggish growth, with high unemployment and falling prices, unless the authorities act quickly to stimulate the economy, Adam Posen, an influential adviser to the Bank of England, has warned.

* BP has returned to capital markets for the first time since its disastrous spill in the Gulf of Mexico, raising $3.5 billion in new bonds.

* Ireland will on Thursday unveil a fresh taxpayer-funded recapitalisation of Anglo Irish Bank.

* AIG’s board is set to finalise a restructuring plan on Wednesday that would increase the US Treasury’s stake in the insurer to about 90% as a step toward an eventual government exit.

* Retail investors in the US have sharply increased their direct buying of junk bonds in the third quarter of the year.

* Royal Dutch Shell is planning a rapid expansion of its North American business to raise production by 40% to 1 million barrels equivalent per day in 2014.

* DE Shaw, one of the world’s biggest and most successful hedge fund managers, is to cut up to 10% of its workforce.

* EU moves towards adopting ‘passports’ for hedge funds and managers based outside the 27-country bloc.

* Liam Fox, the defence secretary, has launched a big assault on the Treasury’s attempt to slash his department’s budget.

* A cap on the market share of UK auditors needs to be introduced to reduce the systemic threat posed by the dominance of the four biggest firms, Grant Thornton has urged.

* Jörg Asmussen, deputy finance minister of Germany, on Tuesday said that closing down the troubled property lender, Hypo Real Estate, would not be “cost free” for taxpayers.