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ALEX BRUMMER: Spare us a business sob story

Many business people regard the short-term bonus culture of the bankers and the way which they cream off some of the best talent in Britain as part of the problem.

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Tesco's plan to take on High Street banks on hold as it delays current accounts

It is thought that one of the sticking points was the supermarket's disastrous attempts last summer to switch 850,000 customers from its former partner RBS to its computer systems.

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Regulator tells BT to slash competitors' bills

Ofcom ruled that BT must cut the rate it charges rivals to use its copper telephone and broadband network.

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Vodafone 'to raise £10billion' in India float

The move comes after Piramal acquired a 5.5 per cent stake in Vodafone India for $385million (£243.44million) from Essar

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Xstrata and Glencore close in on £50billion mega deal

The miners will today unveil the terms of a £50billion mega-merger to create a powerful new rival to the world's mining heavyweights.

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CITY FOCUS: Bankers hog limelight in bonus debate

Geraint Anderson, 'Cityboy', returns to the fray with a satirical look at Britain's top bankers

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Lloyds exile Truett Tate is paid £656,000 for doing nothing

The row over bankers' pay blew up again last night after it emerged that the head of Lloyds 'casino-banking' arm will pick up his £656,000 salary for doing nothing.

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MARKET REPORT: Bumi centre of power struggle

Boardroom shenanigans at Bumi, formally known as Vallar, dragged shares of the coal producer down to 727p before they closed 55p off at 795p.

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Classroom technology supplier RM hit by government austerity cuts

Oxfordshire-based RM said it was suffering the effects of austerity cuts as the government scales back or cancels unfinished Building Schools for the Future projects.

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Interest rates: News and predictions

We explain the factors that will decide when interest rates rise - and how quickly, including the latest forecasts from markets and economists

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SMALL CAP FOCUS: London listing of Tangiers Petroleum provides funds to further its exploration programme

The group, which owns potentially company-making assets in Morocco and Australia, is hoping to negotiate farm-in deals on both. The plan is to have two wells on each by the end of this year.

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Music Magpie enjoys its busiest day ever as consumers sell unwanted Christmas presents

The business that buys and sells used CDs, DVDs online bought 602,417 items on January 16 – six times the normal amount as consumers looked to free up cash amid the spending squeeze.

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MONDAY VIEW: The euro crisis drags a noble idea to disaster

Having followed the saga of Britain’s relations with the European Union since the 1960s, William Keegan has a nagging suspicion that 'we are now witnessing a slow-motion car crash, with potentially horrific implications'.

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British boot and shoemaker Dr Martens put up for sale by R Griggs Group

The firm, which makes fashionable footwear, is run by Max Griggs. It was struggling to survive ten years ago, but revenue jumped 33 per cent to £110m last year.

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Peacocks 'could be rescued from administration by surprise bid from Pakistani billionaire'

Peacocks and parent company the Peacock Group, collapsed under its debt mountain last month in the biggest retail failure since Woolworths, placing 7,500 jobs in jeopardy.

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Equitable Life row over pay delay for policy holders owed compensation

Nine in ten victims of the Equitable Life scandal who are owed compensation have still not been paid, according to official figures.

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Banking giant Barclays poised to report profits of nearly £700,000 an hour

The bank is expected to announce annual profits of £6bn on Friday – broadly similar to the previous year and an incredible £16.4m a day or £685,000 an hour.

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LISA BUCKINGHAM: Glencore boss may have as much sense as money

Any number of good-looking mergers have fallen apart because boardrooms didn’t want to give way. So we must listen a bit more seriously to the merger plans of Glencore and Xstrata.

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Stock market predictions: What next for shares?

UK shares endured a torrid 2011. So is the stock market now 'cheap' and what are the world's leading experts predicting for 2012? Andrew Oxlade explains all.

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Expert fund tips 2011: Best Isas for income, growth and first-time investors

Picking an investment is tricky. We get the experts' ideas on funds for first-timers, higher risk, income and emerging markets.

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A guide to cheapest index tracker funds

A guide to index-tracking funds. These are investments that can be included in an Isa and that track the performance of a stock market index

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