Monday newspaper round-up: Scottish independence, UK banks, Iraq...

Scottish independence is expected to knock up to 10% off the value of sterling, taking it back to levels last seen when Britain was in recession. Nervous traders have already begun to sell the pound in response to narrowing polls. The currency suffered its worst week in more than a year last week. Analysts said on Sunday that a lead for the yes campaign was only going to accelerate the slide. - The Guardian

British banks are in danger of heading for another crisis after the expensive and long struggle to pay for past mistakes, according to new research from KPMG. Profits are recovering but the banks are facing a “crunch time” as they search for new growth and open the loans market to shadow banking rivals. KPMG believes that the banks are again back at the crossroads, after its detailed review of the first-half results of the five biggest lenders. - The Telegraph

US warplanes have carried out five strikes on Islamist insurgents menacing Iraq’s Haditha dam, witnesses and officials said, widening what President Barack Obama called a campaign to curb and ultimately defeat the militants. Obama has branded Islamic State (Isis) forces an acute threat to the west as well as the Middle East and said that key Nato allies stood ready to back Washington in action against the group, which has seized expanses of northern Iraq and eastern Syria and declared a border-blurring religious caliphate. - The Guardian

Rail fares will go up by 2.5 per cent in January after George Osborne capped ticket price increases for the second year running. Commuters had been facing 3.5 per cent price increases on train journeys – with the cost on some routes going up by 5.5 per cent. But the Chancellor [Sunday] announced that fares would go up by no more than inflation. - The Daily Mail

UK buyers will be unable to get onto the property ladder unless the Government takes urgent action on the housing shortage, the Confederation of British Industry has warned. The lack of housing has created above-inflation increases in house prices that are now pricing out many first-time buyers, and costing consumers £4bn a year in housing and transport costs, according to Britain’s biggest business lobby group. - The Telegraph

British brands fighting the onslaught of Chinese counterfeiters have secured a landmark agreement from Alibaba, the internet commerce titan whose imminent listing in New York will vie to be the largest flotation in corporate history. […] A deal has emerged between the Hangzhou-based company and the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC). The accord will make it significantly easier for British companies to shut down Chinese firms that use Alibaba’s huge online trading platform, Taobao, to peddle rip-off goods. - The Times

George Osborne has promised Scotland fresh powers if it rejects independence in this month’s referendum, but said Britain will not share the pound if the union is dissolved. Westminster, panicked by the recent upsurge in support for the independence movement, is offering Scotland greater autonomy, including more tax powers, spending powers, and control over the welfare state. - The Independent

Virgin Atlantic is considering axing its new domestic airline after suffering heavy losses, with six out of ten seats left empty. Senior executives at Virgin are mulling the business’s future only 17 months after Sir Richard Branson donned a kilt to board Little Red’s inaugural flight with a promise of “stiff competition” for British Airways. - The Times