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Friday newspaper round-up: Trade, Capita, Sainsbury, BoE
Britain is calling on Brussels to step back from a trade war with the United States after President Trump imposed new tariffs on EU imports. Liam Fox, the trade secretary, said yesterday that Britain "does not rule out" countermeasures or a challenge in an international court. However, he urged calm on all sides to avoid a full trade war. - The Times
Italy's populist parties were finally given the green light to form a coalition government on Thursday evening, after they backed down over their initial selection of a deeply eurosceptic economy minister. After days of intensive negotiations and pressure from the markets, the anti-immigrant, hard-Right League party and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement agreed to a compromise. - Telegraph
A grassroots group of Jeremy Corbyn supporters and trade unions is to launch a major UK speaking tour, billed as the leftwing campaign to remain in the EU. The Left Against Brexit tour will attempt to persuade Corbyn and his allies of the leftwing case for a pro-EU position and will argue that the party can reap electoral benefits from a shift. - Guardian
Outsourcing specialists Capita and FDM Group are facing potential legal action from former employees who were faced with demands for thousands of pounds in fees when they tried to leave. Both companies insist graduates and other job hunters carry out three or four months of training, for which they are not paid, before they are put forward for work with top companies. - Guardian
Pre-paid funeral plans could be hit with tougher regulation under government plans to deal with bad practice in the sector. The government is due to launch a consultation on regulating the funeral sector, where around 1.3 million people in the UK have a pre-paid plan. - Guardian
J Sainsbury has come under more pressure after being asked to explain the reasoning behind a pay deal which could leave 9,000 staff worse off. Rachel Reeves, chairwoman of the business, energy and industrial strategy committee, who is already closely scrutinising Sainsbury's proposed merger with Asda, has asked it to explain why workers "deserve to be paid less in future for doing the same amount of work". - The Times
The interim boss of troubled transport company FirstGroup has said he will accept a bid for all or part of the company after its chief executive Tim O'Toole was sacked and the firm swung to a major loss. Wolfhart Hauser, who has become executive chairman, said if an offer created value for shareholders, it was something he would consider. - Telegraph
The chancellor, Philip Hammond, walked into a gender row yesterday after picking a man for the role of external economist on the Bank of England's interest rate-setting committee in preference to four shortlisted women. Jonathan Haskel, an economist at Imperial College Business School, was named by the Treasury to succeed Ian McCafferty on the Bank's monetary policy committee. - The Times
Britain's cheapest energy supplier risks being pulled from the market after the regulator found that a catalogue of customer service failings at the cash-strapped company has continued despite its warnings. Ofgem accused Iresa of failing to take adequate steps to address the mounting number of customer complaints made against the company since the three-month investigation began a little over two months ago. - Telegraph
Sportech has signed a deal with a data company to provide fixed-odds sports betting in the emerging American market. As part of the agreement, the betting technology operator will offer prices from Sportradar to customers before the anticipated introduction of legal sports betting. - The Times
A blood test for 10 different types of cancers could one day help doctors screen for the disease before patients show symptoms, according to research from Grail, a US company backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and carried out at the Cleveland Clinic's Taussig Cancer Institute. The test, called a liquid biopsy, screens for cancer by detecting tiny bits of DNA released by cancer cells into blood. - Guardian/Times
Oleg Deripaska's En+ company faces suspension from the London Stock Exchange tonight unless it secures another last-minute reprieve from US sanctions authorities. The energy and aluminium company, which listed in London late last year, was hit by sanctions last month as a result of Mr Deripaska - who has been accused of acting for the Russian state - controlling about two thirds of its shares. - The Times
Fast-rising online retailer The Hut Group plans to recruit 2,000 more staff in a major hiring spree. Profits at the private company, which is frequently on bankers' lists of float candidates, surged 51pc to £318m for the year to December 2017, as the booming beauty market bolstered sales of hair and skincare products. - Telegraph
A complex family feud which stemmed from one of the largest corporate collapses of the credit crunch has been thrown out of courts in Cayman, which ruled that the two companies involved had instead systematically defrauded banks. In the judgment for the case, branded by liquidators as "the largest Ponzi scheme the world has ever seen", the court found the Al-Gosabi family, who owned Saudi conglomerate Ahmad Hamad Algosaibi & Brothers (AHAB), had been working with Maan Al Sanea, who married into the family, to commit fraud against over 100 banks over two decades. = Telegraph
A think tank has been found guilty of abusing its charitable status by pursuing a hard Brexit agenda that violated its legal obligation to maintain "balance and neutrality". The Charity Commission said the Legatum Institute had "crossed a clear line" in a report it published on the potential for free trade deals after Britain left the EU. - The Times
The accountancy regulator has started disciplinary action against executives at Autonomy and two of the company's auditors at Deloitte five years after an accounting scandal engulfed its sale to Hewlett-Packard. The move follows legal action in the United States where Sushovan Hussain, Autonomy's former chief financial officer, was convicted of fraud in April. - The Times
The head of the campaign group that celebrates real ale has quit after members rebelled over his plans for the body to promote lager and craft beer. Tim Page has resigned as chief executive of the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) just weeks after losing a crucial vote on his proposals to modernise the organisation, which he had been working on for two years. - The Times