KILL THE COMPETITION
Welcome to today's round-up of business news from The Times: what we're saying, what they're saying, from Michael Beh
Wednesday, September 16, 0730 GMT
Top stories
The Times: The European Commission warned Lloyds Banking Group it may have to split off Halifax as punishment for the state aid it received.
Wall Street Journal: The Irish government will buy property loans valued up to €90 billion (£80 billion, $132 billion) from struggling banks.
The Times: The heads of the UK and US central banks signalled that their nations' economies have emerged from recession.
Comment
David Wighton in The Times: The fate of Eric Daniels, the Lloyds Banking Group chief executive, may lie in the hands of the Irish and their EU vote.
Tom Stevenson in The Daily Telegraph: It may seem like business as usual but for investors the one thing that has changed is the awareness of risk.
David Prosser in The Daily Telegraph: ITV's new boss has his work cut out after the regulator said advertisers cannot do without the broadcaster.
Upside
The Times: Controls on BT's consumer business were abandoned by regulators, paving the way for increased competition.
New York Times: US retail sales surged in August as consumers swapped their old cars for new ones and spent more at convenience stores.
Wall Street Journal: UK annual consumer price inflation fell at a slower-than-expected pace, as food prices fell at their fastest pace in two years.
Downside
The Times: The Competition Commission ruled out an increase in advertising prices by ITV, the broadcaster.
Wall Street Journal: The global airline industry faces $11 billion (£7 billion) of losses this year, $2 billion greater than previously forecast.
The Times: BAE Systems, Europe's largest defence company, will close Woodford Aerodrome, the home of the Lancaster bomber, culling more than 1,000 jobs.
Mergers and shakers
The Daily Telegraph: Citigroup plans a share offering to cut US Treasury's 34 per cent stake in the troubled US bank.
Wall Street Journal: Adobe Systems will buy rival Omniture for $1.8 million (£3 million) to create a way to track web sites created with Adobe's software.
New York Times: Finn M. W. Caspersen, a prominent philanthropist, was suspected of using secret offshore bank accounts to evade millions in taxes before his suicide.
Around Asia
New York Times: Japan Airlines will cut 6,800 jobs, trim routes and quickly secure emergency funds from an overseas carrier.
Wall Street Journal: Foreign direct investment in China rose by 7 per cent on a year-on-year basis for the first time in 11 months.
Wall Street Journal: Richard Li, chief executive of PCCW, Hong Kong's main telecom operator, will not appeal a verdict that blocked his bid to privatise the company.
Look ahead
The Times: 125 temporary cabin crew and 140 workers taking voluntary redundancy will finish at British Airways, the UK carrier, at the end of October.
Bloomberg: Nissan, Japan's third-largest carmaker, predicts sales in China will beat previous forecasts this year as government stimulus measures spur demand.
The Guardian: World wealth plunged 11.7 per cent in 2008, and will take six years to return to the 2007's level, according to the Boston Consulting Group.
