THE DAILY BRIEFING

ITALIAN JOB The Italian government is taking control of troubled bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena and will try to relaunch it in a plan that includes disposing of £25.1bn of bad loans and injecting £4.7bn, giving it a 70pc stake. NEW BOSS Stockbroker Cenkos Securities has named Anthony Hotson, 63, as its new chief executive, to replace 57-year-old Jim Durkin.

METAL MARKET Former traders at mining giant Glencore are launching an eBay- style metals marketplace to link miners directly with smelters, cutting out middlemen.

JACOBS OFF Colin Jacobs, 53, has stepped down as executive director of self- storage firm Lok’n Store Group.

FIBRE FINANCE Telecoms provider CityFibre plans to raise up to £200m from new shares to boost the expansion of its fibre network.

MOBILE VIEWING Half of internet browsers visiting the websites of big-name British companies are now doing so on their mobile phones, according to new figures released by Adobe. DIAMOND BOOM Diamond producer Lucapa Diamond Company says its mine in Angola produced 4,203 diamond carats over the latest quarter, 63pc more than the previous period.

CLIMATE ALERT Big oil and gas firms have to be open about the risks of climate change and how it will affect them, Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said. STEEL DEAL Recovering British Steel has signed a new deal in its home town. Its logo will feature on the Scunthorpe United kit and it intends to work with the club on community projects.

LEIF LEAVING The chairman of struggling telecoms giant Ericsson has announced he will stand down after six years in the role.

Leif Johansson said that he would not put himself forward for re-election at next year’s annual shareholders meeting. SALES FLOORED A slowing housing sector and challenging market conditions have taken their toll says Topps Tiles, as it reported another sales slump.

The group said like-for-like sales fell 4.7pc in the third quarter as ‘weaker macro- economic conditions’ begin to bite.