Thursday newspaper round-up: Ex-Barclays bosses, Shell, BA
Prosecutors for the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) say attempts by former Barclays bank bosses to show advisory services provided by Qatar were merely a “smoke-screen” to try to “legitimise” fraudulent payments to the Gulf state in 2008. A jury at the Old Bailey in London heard that former banking executives tried to gather evidence that would show that payments to Qatar were made in exchange for genuine advisory services, rather than a way of disguising illegitimate fees worth £322m. – Guardian
Poor pay and punitive working conditions are common on farms and plantations that supply fresh fruit or tea to major UK supermarkets including Lidl, Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons, according to new research published by a leading international charity. The report from Oxfam claims that the supermarkets’ “relentless” drive to maximise profits is fuelling poverty and gender discrimination in their retail supply chains. Its research is based on in-depth interviews with workers in India and Brazil and a separate survey in five other countries. – Guardian
UK drivers on Shell’s loyalty scheme will soon be able to offset their environmental impact by planting more trees as Big Oil responds to fears about climate change. From next week, customers can opt into the carbon credit initiative, which will see Shell invest £10m towards the restoration of forests to atone for drivers’ emissions. The plans have been criticised ahead of their launch next week as an attempt to greenwash the industry’s image. – Telegraph
British Airways is to offset carbon emissions for all UK domestic flights from next year as part of a wider commitment by its parent company to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Emissions from domestic BA flights will be offset by International Airlines Group investing in carbon reduction projects, including renewable energy and reforestation programmes. BA operates up to 75 UK domestic flights a day. – The Times
The directors of an under-performing £500 million London-listed investment trust have been accused of treating shareholders poorly while allowing the fund managers to pocket high fees. Fund managers appointed by Boussard & Gavaudan Holding have been paid €102 million over the past five years, while the total return to shareholders has been an underwhelming 5.7 per cent per year. – The Times