Sunday newspaper round-up: France, Brexit, Russia
France is to beef up cyber-security amid growing fears that Russian hackers could try to influence its upcoming presidential election following claims that Moscow orchestrated US computer attacks to help Donald Trump. Jean-Yves Le Drian, the defence minister, said French intelligence agencies were trying “to learn lessons for the future” from the allegations by their US counterparts. - The Sunday Telegraph
Banks
4,066.08
14:40 26/04/24
FTSE 100
8,133.92
14:40 26/04/24
FTSE 350
4,466.42
14:40 26/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,419.78
14:40 26/04/24
Lloyds Banking Group
52.40p
14:40 26/04/24
Sir Ivan Rogers held secret talks with David Cameron before Christmas to warn him that Theresa May was botching Brexit. Britain’s ambassador to the European Union — who resigned last week after accusing the government of “muddled thinking” — told the former prime minister that May was not doing enough to prepare for the risk of the UK making a “disorderly” departure from the EU. - The Sunday Times
Donald Trump vowed yesterday to work with Russia to solve the world’s problems, condemning those who oppose good relations with Moscow as “stupid people” or “fools”. His comments, in a series of tweets, came despite intelligence reports — some provided by Britain’s GCHQ — that Kremlin-backed hackers interfered in the US election. “Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing,” wrote Trump. “Only ‘stupid’ people, or fools, would think that it is bad!" - The Sunday Times
Investment bankers at some of Europe’s biggest firms are braced for bosses to halve their bonus pools, with an expected jump in payouts for Wall Street’s top-performing financiers and traders set to exacerbate a gulf between banks on either side of the Atlantic. Wall Street giants JP Morgan and Bank of America are the first to report earnings this week. With US banks again outperforming their rivals on this side of the Atlantic many are expecting the rewards paid to staff at Wall Street firms to dwarf those given to employees at Continental counterparts, particularly troubled Italian lender UniCredit and Deutsche Bank. - The Sunday Telegraph
The major US investment firm Blackrock is on track to become the biggest shareholder in Lloyds Banking Group, usurping the government which is selling down its stake in the bailed-out bank. Blackrock, which describes itself as the world’s biggest fund manager with $5.1tn (£4.1tn) of investments, owns at least a 5% stake in Lloyds while the Treasury’s stake is on course to fall to below 6%. - The Guardian
The Green Investment Bank (GIB) is set to be stripped of its prized assets once Australia’s Macquarie seizes control of the state-owned lender later this month. The Australian bank has already lined up suitors for some of the Green Investment Bank’s most valuable assets — even though it has yet to seal the £3.8bn takeover. The Edinburgh-based lender’s wind farm and biomass projects are understood to be on the block. Macquarie bankers have in recent weeks held talks with a number of potential buyers. - The Sunday Times
Boris Johnson has flown to New York for a meeting with some of Donald Trump's closest advisers amid suggestions that he could be introduced to the President elect himself. The Foreign Secretary was due to become the most senior British politician to meet the the president-elect's team ahead of a visit by Theresa May next month. - The Sunday Telegraph
More than 2.9 m couples across the UK are missing out on a free tax break worth up to £220 a year, according to HM Revenue and Customs which has launched a campaign to get more people to apply for its transferrable marriage allowance. Since April 2015, couples in which one person pays no tax because their income is less than the personal allowance – currently £11,000 – have been able to transfer £1,100 of that allowance to their tax-paying partner. - The Guardian