THE DAILY BRIEFING
BANK BAILOUT Another Russian bank — B&N, the country’s 12th- largest lender — is being nationalised as regulators seek to head off a looming financial crisis. It follows Otkritie’s recent rescue.
TAXI ROUTES A new service running black cabs along routes ‘like buses’ has been launched in London. Navigation app firm Citymapper has partnered with taxi hailing company Gett to run a service between Highbury and Waterloo. Cabs can be shared for £3.
NAPPY FIGHT The maker of Huggies and Scott Naturals wipes is suing the US district of Washington over a law which banned it from labelling products ‘flushable’. KimberlyCorp says that the law is unconstitutional.
It was passed in response to complaints that flushable wipes are blocking sewers. PARAGON CHANGE Mortgage lender The Paragon Group of Companies has changed its name to Paragon Banking Group, and trimmed its senior management structure. TRUST LAUNCH An investment trust is set to float next month on the Social Stock Exchange, aimed at sustainable businesses. The People’s Trust is led by former Investment Association chief Daniel Godfrey and is seeking £125m. BUILDING BOOST New construction contracts hit their highest level since March, says monitoring group Barbour ABI, climbing to £5.8bn in August, up 7pc on July. FCA DEAL City watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, has done a deal with Hong Kong’s insurance regulator to help fintech firms operate more easily by sharing information on them with the Chinese. COMPETITION PROBE The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is probing investment consultants which advise pension funds, amid concerns customers are being ripped off.
It is feared there are too few companies to allow customers a proper choice, and that costs are too high. The CMA was asked to step in by the Financial Conduct Authority.
RENTOKIL HIRE Pest control company Rentokil has announced a replacement for Chris Geoghegan who resigned on Monday after getting caught up in the Gupta scandal that caused PR firm Bell Pottinger to collapse. Non-executive director and former Bank of Ireland governor Richard Burrows will now chair the remuneration committee and become an independent director.