Friday newspaper round-up: Investment banking probe, British Gas, Bank mis-selling

Investment banks in the UK are facing a competition probe by the Financial Conduct Authority, according to the Financial Times. The regulator “could force banks to stop selling products and be more transparent about how they charge clients”, the paper said.

Centrica’s British Gas has said it might reduce gas bills against this year with oil and gas prices expected to stay low until 2017, reports The Telegraph. "If prices do stay low then […] there is the possibility of further reductions we could pass through to our customers," said Centrica’s chief executive Iain Conn.

“Small-business victims of mis-sold interest rate products could have been hit a second time as banks overcharged for products they gave in compensation,” writes The Times. The paper claims that lenders including Barclays, HSBC and RBS charged victims more than 10 times the real cost of products when handed interest-rate caps.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei index reached another 15-year high on Friday on the back of improved corporate earnings, reports the Wall Street Journal. The index was up 0.3% at 18,327.76 in afternoon trade, its best intraday leave since May 2000.

Walmart’s Asda is planning to spend £600m on 17 new supermarkets and the redevelopment of 62 more stores, reports The Guardian.

Pharmaceutical veteran Olivier Brandicourt has been named as the new chief executive of French drug maker Sanofi, writes the Wall Street Journal, “as it faces stiff competition and prepares to launch crucial new products”.

Property group Knight Frank has said that homeowners become steadily more pessimistic over the three months to February with price-growth expectations dropping to an 18-month low, says The Telegraph.