LONDON Daily press round-up

Wednesday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Cadbury, National Express

Wed 11 Nov 2009

LONDON (SHARECAST) - Barclays is considering raising investment bankers' base salaries to avoid the worst of the City regulator's crackdown on bonuses, says the Telegraph. Barclays, which employs 21,900 investment bankers who are on course for an average of £200,000, revealed yesterday it is reviewing its remuneration policy, with base pay "under consideration". John Paulson, the US hedge-fund manager who made billions betting on the collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market, increased his stake inCadbury, the subject of a hostile takeover bid by Kraft. Paulson & Co., Mr Paulson's fund, now has almost 2.1pc of Cadbury's shares, according to a filing, after buying shares on the same day the Dairy Milk maker rejected a 717p-a-share, cash-and-paper offer from US food company Kraft, writes the Telegraph. National Express is expected to announce its controversial rights issue today as Renfe, the Spanish state rail operator that has been linked with the company’s former East Coast franchise, confirmed that it was planning to enter the British market. The rights issue is to be pitched between £300 million and £400 million, according to the Times. British Midland (bmi) has admitted that it may not be able to continue as a going concern beyond next year in the face of an acute funding crisis at the airline. The full extent of bmi’s difficulties are revealed in previously unpublished financial accounts seen by The Times. The document reveals that bmi, which employs 4,800 people, needs £190 million of additional funding by the end of next October. In a huge setback for government prosecutors, a jury in New York City last night acquitted two former hedge-fund managers with Bear Stearns of lying to clients about the safety of their money even when they themselves allegedly saw disaster around the corner because of the imploding sub-prime mortgage market, says the Independent. Europe’s competition watchdog has opened a full inquiry into the datafeed supply agreements between Thomson Reuters and its trading customers. The European Commission suspects the agreements might “lock” users, such as large banking groups, into working with the news and financial data company and breach antitrust rules, writes the FT.