Thursday newspaper round-up: Yellen, Aussie trade deal, Rolls-Royce, Rics

Janet Yellen, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, said the economy had come a long way in recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and that she and her colleagues expect the central bank to raise interest rates “a few times a year” until 2019. Ms Yellen also warned that waiting too long to raise rates could risk a “nasty surprise” down the road, but that increasing interest rates too rapidly would push the economy into a new recession. - Telegraph

Britain is ideally placed to secure a services-based trade agreement with Australia, the country’s trade minister said yesterday. Australia was the first country out of the blocks to announce that it wanted to secure preferential access to British markets after the Brexit vote. - The Times

The Serious Fraud Office is within weeks of bringing criminal prosecutions against individuals caught up in the Rolls-Royce bribery scandal, one of the biggest corruption cases in British corporate history. The SFO has confirmed that it is carrying out criminal investigations of former Rolls employees and others, believed to be the middlemen through which the aircraft engine maker paid more than $100 million in bribes to government officials and companies in a dozen countries across five continents. - The Times

The UK’s housing market showed signs of weakness in December, as the number of property sales fell as uncertainty and a shortage of supply kept potential buyers at bay. House price growth also appeared to slow, according to the data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), which polls its members for the monthly survey. - Telegraph

Pearson chief executive John Fallon is under mounting pressure as investors in the education giant backed its board to oust him if necessary in the wake of a profit warning that sent the shares plunging to their lowest level in 14 years. Mr Fallon, who has been with Pearson for two decades and chief executive since 2014, admitted he had got “some big calls wrong last year” as he said he was accountable for the failure.

Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank are to close one third of their branches this year with the loss of 400 jobs and potential inconvenience to tens of thousands of account-holders. CYBG, the owner of both banks, said that it was cutting 79 branches, reducing its network to only 168. - The Times

BAE Systems must find huge savings in producing parts for the F-35 stealth fighter on the orders of Donald Trump, the defence company’s chairman has admitted. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Sir Roger Carr said the US president elect wanted to see the cost of the controversial programme slashed by at least 10pc - news that knocked BAE’s share price on Wednesday. - Telegraph

More than 20,000 staff at Deutsche Bank have been told that their bonuses will be drastically reduced in the wake of its $7.2 billion settlement with American regulators over the mis-selling of toxic mortgage-backed debt before the financial crisis. Cutting bonuses will cause pain for London-based staff of Deutsche. It employs more than 7,000 people in the UK, the home for much of its investment banking business that, in its heyday, was a rival for the likes of Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. - The Times

America’s largest bank was accused of failing to prevent racial discrimination yesterday over allegations that mortgage brokers had overcharged African American and Hispanic borrowers for its home loans. JP Morgan showed “reckless disregard” for the rights of at least 53,000 minority borrowers who collectively paid tens of millions of dollars more for the bank’s mortgages than white clients of equal standing, the US Department of Justice claimed in a court filing. - The Times

House of Fraser's recent upbeat festive trading hasn't convinced credit rating agency Moody's which yesterday lowered its outlook for the department store chain. Moody's said that despite a positive Christmas performance, it expects weaker profitability in the first three quarters of the year to result in lower underlying full-year profits. - Telegraph

A coalition of governments, philanthropists and business is pledging to put money and effort into making vaccines to stop the spread of diseases that could threaten mankind – and to prevent another outbreak as devastating as the Ebola epidemic. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Norwegian, Japanese and German governments, the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation announced they were putting in $460 million – half of what is needed for the first five years of the initiative. Three diseases will initially be targeted: Lassa, Mers and Nipah. - Guardian

Vegemite will be Australian-owned once again after Bega Cheese agreed to buy the iconic spread and other well-known brands for $460m. Bega said on Thursday it would acquire Vegemite, ZoOSh mayonnaise and Bonox under the deal to buy most of Mondelez International’s Australia and New Zealand grocery and cheese business. - Guardian

Europe has become a "problem" that has led to rising populism and disaffection across the entire bloc, Italy's finance minister has warned. Pier Carlo Padoan said European institutions were no longer viewed as the solution to the plight facing the eurozone and wider European Union. - Telegraph