Life's A Picnic

Banks double-charging costs homeowners £30m

Under an obscure clause, borrowers are charged interest by both their old lender and new lender on the day the home loan is transferred

New Star's profits fall as £1.1bn pulled out

John Duffield, the chairman of New Star Asset Management, said there was no end in sight to the torrid conditions on the market

Tricky task of putting price on Titian

The best people to judge the price of the Titians are the advisers to the world's plutocrats: private bankers and family offices

Lehman Brothers prepares to cut 1,200 jobs

US investment bank makes fourth round of redundancies, bringing total staff losses to 6,400 since June last year

Vanni Treves: the barrister manqué

Martin Waller meets the man who steered Equitable Life through troubled times and is now running the UK side of Korn/Ferry International

B&B chairman warns of tough two years

The cautious outlook statement came as new shareholders appeared on the B&B register following its tortuous £455 million rights issue

Lenders face huge hit on mortgage fraud

Mortgage lenders may be sitting on loans fraudulently obtained by criminals to support drugs, illegal immigration and money-laundering

Darling feels heat over offshore profits

Business leaders seek urgent clarity on corporation tax after Regus becomes third company in three days to quit Britain

J Sainsbury ... Bradford & Bingley: Tempus at lunchtime

Only rumours are helping Sainsbury's share price ... B&B is suffering for issuing self-certification mortgages

Tempus analysis: Another kick

Bradford & Bingley's preference for self-certification mortgages could be seen as making it more vulnerable

New Star cuts dividend as investors exit

Assets at John Duffield's fund manager fall £3.3bn sending first half profits sharply lower and its shares down 16%

Nestor Healthcare seeks sale amid debt strain

Nestor Healthcare is in a race against time to find a buyer for one of its community care and out-of-hours GP businesses

UK private equity investors eye Sierra Leone

Tom Cairnes of the Sierra Leone Investment Fund hopes to boost indigenous businesses to help spur economic growth

Allianz close to offloading Dresdner Bank

German insurer moves to sell its loss-maker as profits tumble at Crédit Agricole and Commerzbank is to weigh bid options

Credit Agricole tops France's crunch casualties

Profits fall 75.5% after bank writes down €1.3bn, bringing its total hit from the slowing financial markets to €6.5bn