LONDON (ShareCast) - News of the expected nationalisation of mortgage lender Bradford and Bingley dominated Sunday's business pages.

Government officials were Saturday night preparing to nationalise the bank as the chances of a private sector solution were fading. The Treasury was still locked in talks with Spain’s Santander, owner of Abbey, about a possible deal, but Government insiders said that it was looking increasingly likely that the two would not be able to agree terms by the end of today. The Government wants to calm investors and depositors by announcing a plan for B&B before the stock market opens tomorrow, said the Sunday Telegraph.

Another buyer could be HSBC, according to the Sunday Times. Although the Financial Services Authority had been trying to find a single white-knight bidder to take over B&B’s loans in their entirety, Britain’s big banks refused to get involved, it adds.

BSkyB is expected to be told Monday that it must sell down its stake in broadcaster ITV. Sky, which bought a 17.9% stake in ITV in November 2006, has fielded interest from several parties in the past, including German media group Bertels-mann, the owner of Five in the UK, and Big Brother producer Endemol, says the Sunday Times.

The US stock market could suffer a devastating crash with shares losing a third of their value this week if Hank Paulson’s financial bailout plan fails, US Treasury officials have warned. The warning came as Republicans and Democrats met in Washington for a rare weekend debating session to attempt to seal agreement on the contentious plan, aimed at preventing a long-lasting recession in the US, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

Advertising giant WPP will this week announce that it is quitting the UK ahead of expected punitive changes to the tax regime, the Mail on Sunday reports. Companies that earn most of their profits overseas pay the bulk of their taxes outside the UK, allowing them to offset these against domestic tax liabilities. But the Treasury is planning changes that would see them pay tax on profits earned abroad once they are remitted to the UK, says the Mail on Sunday.

US insurance giant AIG, which is being bailed out by the US government with an $85bn emergency loan after it ran into financial problems, is to offload a 25 per cent stake in London City Airport, the fastest-growing in Britain, for about £250m. The buyer is Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), whose shareholders are Credit Suisse, the banking group, and General Electric, the US conglomerate, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

The head of one of the world’s largest platinum producers has been proposed as an alternative candidate to chair Anglo American, the FTSE 100 mining group. Some board members of Anglo American, have been championing the appointment of Fred Phaswana, chairman of Angloplat, The Sunday Telegraph says.

Close Brothers Group, the blue-blooded British investment bank, will Monday announce the surprise departure of Colin Keogh, its chief executive, reports the Sunday Telegraph.

Belgium’s Fortis is poised to become the first large continental bank to fall victim to the credit crunch. The Belgian central bank and the country’s regulator are paving the way for a bailout of the huge banking and insurance group, the Sunday Times says.

Ministers are to keep a “special” share in British Energy (BE) that will give them the power to block the sale of its nuclear-power plants after its takeover by the French. The share – which the government has held since BE was created – will be carried over to the company’s likely new owner, Electricité de France (EDF), says the Sunday Times.

Pressure is mounting on Punch Taverns after it emerged that almost one in five of its tenanted public houses is looking for a new licensee. The pub group’s shares have fallen in recent weeks because of fears over the sustainability of its business model, according to the Sunday Times.

MFI, the kitchen retailer, will fall into administration tomorrow unless talks to secure financial backing for a management buyout are successful, reports the Sunday Times.

The board of telecoms group Cable & Wireless, will meet Monday to approve a demerger of the company that could be announced within weeks. The move will see the telecoms company's British and European fixed-line operations, which service companies and multinationals, split from the international side of the business, based in the Caribbean, which serves primarily domestic customers, says the Observer.

Marks and Spencer will this week reveal a fall in sales as retailers warn of a squeeze in the middle-market clothing sector, reports the Mail on Sunday.

The Foreign Office has written to Lloyd's of London chairman Lord Levene to outline its disapproval that Lloyd's brokers are trading with the Burmese military dictatorship.The letter has forced Levene to write to the insurance market's managing agents last week 'urging them to consider' their involvement with the repressive regime, reports the Observer.

Flyglobespan, the Edinburgh-based airline, could be the next flight firm to be downed, punters are speculating. Sources close to the Civil Aviation Authority are privately believed to be discussing the future of the firm before one of the toughest trading periods of the year for airlines, says the Independent on Sunday.

Rebel shareholders in Blue Oar, the City stockbroker, are set to table a requisition to the company's management calling for an extraordinary general meeting to vote on the winding up of the company. The trio are believed to be seeking the closure of the firm so that its £16m cash balance can be handed back to shareholders.The revolt is being spearheaded by the company's former chief executive Edward Vandyk, former director Barrie Newton and the activist investment group Albany Capital, says the Independent on Sunday.

The Conservative Party was accused last night of being bankrolled by a City 'wolf pack' after it emerged that the party was receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds from hedge fund managers who have been making vast sums of money from plunging bank shares, the Observer reports.

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