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Wednesday newspaper round-up: AT&T, WPP, Co-op Bank, Serco boss
The senior PricewaterhouseCoopers accountant who audited BHS's accounts ahead of its sale for £1 just a year before the department store chain collapsed is facing a 15-year ban and six-figure fine from the industry watchdog. Steve Denison, who spent more than 30 years at PwC according to his LinkedIn profile, becoming a partner, is understood to have been facing a £500,000 fine from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), reduced to £325,000 after he agreed to cooperate. - Guardian
Foreign entrepreneurs could find it easier to come to the UK to set up businesses after the government confirmed plans to introduce a new startup visa, which it said would begin welcoming people without a university education and improve the application process. The announcement came in the wake of Theresa May, the architect of the "hostile environment" immigration policy, defending her government's response to the Windrush scandal. - Guardian
City firms must do more to abolish the "alpha-male" culture still prevalent in banks and finance, the powerful Treasury committee has said. In a wide-ranging report on women in finance published today, MPs call on firms to overhaul bonus negotiations and for more male bosses to "lead by example" by adopting flexible working. The committee said the "overwhelming reason" given by women for not wanting to progress up the ranks in finance firms was culture. - Telegraph
AT&T has been given the green light for its $85bn (£63bn) blockbuster takeover of Time Warner, rebuffing efforts to block the deal by the Trump administration. Judge Richard Leon said the proposed takeover could go ahead without any conditions, rejecting the US Justice Department's arguments that it would limit competition and mean higher prices for pay-TV subscribers. - Telegraph
Leading investors are to vote against the chairman of WPP and its executive pay in what is set to be a fiery annual shareholder meeting today. Several shareholders have revealed their opposition to the re-election of Roberto Quarta, chairman of the FTSE 100 advertising group, and to the group's remuneration report before the meeting in London. - The Times
The former Canadian central banker who will lead an independent review into the supervision of the Co-op Bank before its near-collapse in 2013 will be paid £1,500 a day, excluding expenses. Mark Zelmer, whose appointment raised questions about potential conflicts as he has worked with the Bank of England in the past and is a former colleague of Mark Carney, will be given access to all privileged and confidential documents to help his review, the Bank has promised. - The Times
The chief executive of Serco will step up his attack on government procurement practices today, accusing civil servants of bullying private sector contractors into accepting uncommercial deals to deliver public services. Rupert Soames will warn MPs on the public accounts committee investigating the collapse of Carillion that the government's treatment of contractors has wrecked its reputation as a fair customer. - The Times