THE DAILY BRIEFING

TRADER REPRIEVE Rogue trader Kweku Adoboli has been granted a last minute reprieve as he fights deportation to Ghana.

The former UBS banker, 38, was jailed for seven years after losing £1.8bn on illicit trades.

Adoboli was due to be deported to his native country yesterday – where he has not lived since he was four – but has been told the Home Office will now review his case.

FEES PAY-OFF Credit card groups Visa and Mastercard, along with several banks, will pay £4.7bn to settle part of a long-running lawsuit brought by merchants over fees on credit card transactions.

BIG STRIKE Staff at McDonald’s restaurants in ten US cities walked out yesterday over claims the fastfood giant is not doing enough to prevent sexual harassment. BUYING UP Bosses at XPS Pensions Group – which provides administration services for the pension industry – have agreed to buy the retirement arm of construction company Kier for £3.5m.

LENDING LIFT Mortgage company Paragon Banking Group has more than £5bn of retail deposits on its books, up from £4.3bn in March.

SHARE SUCCESS Insurer Aviva has successfully bought back £600m of shares to boost the value of investors’s holdings.

BANG TIDY Payments software firm Bango posted a 54pc boost in revenues to £2.6m in the six months to June 30 compared to a year earlier. The firm made a £1.9m loss, up from £1.7m.

WHO BOOST Escape room operator Escape Hunt enjoyed a 76pc boost to sales to £800,000 in the six months to June 30 after it secured an exclusive five-year agreement with BBC Worldwide to create Doctor Who themed escape rooms.

PROJECT CASH London-listed explorer United Oil & Gas has raised £3m on the stock market to seek new projects.

SAUDI DEAL Swiss chemicals group Clariant is creating a joint venture in high performance materials with new shareholder Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), targeting sales of around £7bn.