Wednesday Papers: collapse of RBS and HSBC 'most dangerous' for global financial system

Top stories

• Financial Times: Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s embattled prime minister, pledged last night that he would resign after parliament passes a new financial stability law that will implement fresh austerity measures demanded by the European Union.
• Financial Times: The eurozone crisis is in danger of creating a global wave of instability by sucking liquidity out of financial markets worldwide, according to leading policymakers and financiers.
• The Guardian: Société Générale has scrapped its dividend and is cutting bonuses by a "significant amount" to preserve capital after the eurozone crisis dented profits as it took another hit on Greek government bonds.
• The Guardian: Lloyds Banking Group warned it would fail to meet some of its key financial targets as the bailed-out bank slumped to a £3.8 billion loss in the first nine months of the year.
• Daily Express: Persimmon said first-time buyers were back as it reported a surge in visitor numbers and sales.
• The Independent: Hugo Boss, the German fashion house best known for its men's suits, sharply raised its earnings outlook yesterday as it expands its store network and eyes strong growth in China.
• The Independent: Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC are among a top tier of international banks whose failure would be most dangerous for the global financial system, it has been revealed.

Business and economics

• Financial Times: Stuart Gulliver, chief executive of HSBC, warned on Tuesday that Asia is facing the threat of a potential slowdown in the flow of credit to the region, especially from beleaguered European banks.
• The Guardian: Crisis-hit banks in Europe have begun retreating into beggar-thy-neighbour lending policies in an echo of the protectionism that scarred Europe in the 1930s depression.
• The Daily Telegraph: Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund manager found guilty of orchestrating one of the biggest insider trading schemes in US history, has been ordered to pay $92.8 million in penalties.
• Financial Times: Fannie Mae, the US-controlled mortgage financier, will request an additional $7.8 billion from taxpayers after soured derivatives bets caused the company to record a $5.1 billion quarterly loss.
• Financial Times: Olympus has acknowledged wrongdoing for the first time in a scandal involving more than $1 billion in acquisition-related payments contested by its former chief executive.
• The Guardian: Vodafone becomes FTSE's top dividend payer as it hands shareholders £6.7 billion; revenues are up 4% to £23.5 billion after the mobile phone network collects its first distribution from Verizon Wireless.
• The Guardian: Marks and Spencer's profits slump as price-cutting hits margins; sales creep up 2.4% but chief executive Mark Bolland says he expects the pressure on prices to continue.
• The Daily Telegraph: Jens Weidmann, head of the Bundesbank and the ECB's dominant governor, said that any move to leverage Europe's €440 billion rescue fund through central bank financing would be a "clear violation" of the ECB's legal mandate.
• The Daily Telegraph: George Osborne has condemned plans for a European Union levy on financial transactions as a “big tax on pensioners” that will lead to 995,000 job losses and not cost bankers a penny.
• The Daily Telegraph: Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone lied about the reason he paid the $44 million "bribe" at the centre of a criminal case in Germany, it has been claimed in court documents.
• The Daily Telegraph: Britain's consumer watchdog is on a potential collision course with British Airways after confirming it is pursuing a £121.5 million fine for allegedly fixing the price of fuel surcharges.
• Daily Mail: Manufacturing output increased by 0.2% between August and September after declining 0.3% in the previous month, said the Office for National Statistics.
• Financial Times: Bumi Resources, the Indonesian coal company partly owned by Nat Rothschild’s resources venture with the Bakrie family, has repaid $600 million of a $1.9 billion loan to Chinese sovereign wealth fund CIC.
• The Independent: The discount fashion chain Primark has posted its first fall in profits for more than a decade, despite new stores helping it deliver a 13 per cent leap in sales.

Share tips, comment and bids

• Financial Times: Graff Diamonds, retailer of some of the world’s most expensive jewellery, is planning a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise $1 billion.
• Financial Times: Endemol and its lenders are set to rebuff recent approaches for the indebted television production group, and pursue a debt for equity swap.
• Financial Times: Rakuten, the Japanese internet services group, has offered $315 million in cash for Kobo, the Canadian e-reader and e-book company.
• The Guardian (Comment): Lloyds: the pot of gold remains out of reach. The chief executive is off sick. Targets are being deferred. Morale is low. And the investment case is looking weaker.
• The Daily Telegraph (Comment): Ambitious Marc Bolland passes out of M&S bootcamp on to next round.
• The Daily Telegraph (Comment): Does it really matter if anyone at a bank actually likes the people at the top running the business?
• Daily Mail (Comment): ALEX BRUMMER: IMF expected to hold Italy’s foot to the fire.
• Daily Mail (Comment): CITY FOCUS: Lloyds Banking Group drifts into troubled waters.
• Financial Times (Lombard): First footer Marc Bolland forecasts a horrible Hogmanay for consumer businesses.
• Financial Times (Lex): Dynegy: hedge funds mine rich seam - though coal plants are worth far below what they cost to build, that cannot last forever. The spread is always darkest before the dawn.
• Financial Times (Lex): Bank of England: beware overhaul call - UK lawmakers are right to want to make the Bank more accountable, but the line between independence and political interference must not be crossed.
• Financial Times (Lex): Indian FCCBs: a four-letter word - when exuberance reigned these products flew off the shelves. Now, with vast amounts approaching maturity, they’re coming back to bite both sides.
• Financial Times (Lex): Vodafone: caution calls the shots - it is the sort of company Europe’s politicians are wishing would invest more to spur broader economic growth.
• Financial Times (Lex): Lloyds Banking Group: tread with care - the abandonment of targets days after the chief executive went on leave due to health reasons suggests internal doubt over his punchy strategy.
• The Independent (Comment): Pay transparency has failed to deliver restraint in the boardroom.
• The Independent (Comment): Let us be fair to George Osborne: at least the Chancellor has finally given an honest account of his views about the proposal for a financial transactions tax in Europe.