THE DAILY BRIEFING

CHIEF POACHED Littlewoods and Very owner Shop Direct has poached gambling firm Rank Group’s boss Henry Birch to head the company. Birch, 49, will join as chief executive after almost four years at the helm of the FTSE 250listed firm.

TOXIC TOLL Bailed- out Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed a £360m penalty with New York state after mis-selling toxic mortgages in the run-up to the financial crisis.

GOING WELL Packaging maker DS Smith says that its business has progressed well during the three months since the start of November, helped by the recent increases in paper prices.

HEADING OFF Derek Mapp is stepping down as chairman of international healthcare and communications group Huntsworth. It is now looking for his successor.

TEAMING UP Department store Debenhams has partnered with furniture and interiors firm Maisons du Monde to sell its products in store, in a bid to attract more customers.

BIG BOND Pharmacy chain CVS Health has raised £28.9bn in the third-largest corporate bond sale ever, to fund its acquisition of insurer Aetna.

PROFITS RISE Profits at car and home insurer Esure jumped 36pc to £ 98.6m last year as customers boosted its total number of policies by 9pc to 2.4m.

BANK BACKED An online- only bank seeking to challenge the major High Street players has raised £149m from investors. Atom now has £1.3bn in customer deposits and a £1.2bn loan book.

FLOAT PLAN Corporate law firm Rosenblatt is reportedly mulling a stock market float later this year. It had revenues of £16m last year.

LONDON CALLING London is the world’s second-best city for the super-rich - coming just behind New York, says estate agent Knight Frank. Next-best European capital is Paris, in seventh.

LICENCE BID Lawsuit funding firm Burford Capital has asked for a licence to set up an insurance arm, to give cover to clients who face major losses if they lose a case.

TECH CASH Financial technology firm Capitolis has raised £21m, to improve the systems used for trading in capital markets.