Tuesday press round-up: Glaxo, HSBC, house prices

GlaxoSmithKline has rehired a former senior Chinese employee suspected of being the whistleblower behind bribery allegations that led to a £297m fine for the drugmaker in China. – The Financial Times

HSBC could still leave the UK despite tax changes designed to make London a more welcome home for the bank, its chairman and finance director said, as they consider moving the giant bank's headquarters to Asia. The bank will make a decision on its domicile by the end of the year, chairman Douglas Flint reaffirmed, after announcing the review in April. – The Telegraph

Homes in the majority of places in England and Wales are now more affordable than they were in 1997 thanks to falling inflation, low interest rates and rising wages. For the average householder their ability to buy a home has improved over the last 18 years, according to research from Hamptons International. – The Telegraph

The Serious Fraud Office has been handed a lifeline after a jury convicted former UBS trader Tom Hayes of rigging Libor interest rates. He is the first person found guilty of fraudulently rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate, known as the Libor. The verdict opens the door to more prosecutions across the City, which could take years to bring to trial. – Daily Mail

A company chaired by the former leader of the Conservative party made payments to a Somali government adviser as they were agreeing a lucrative oil contract with the troubled east African country, the Guardian has learned. Soma Oil and Gas, which is chaired by Lord Howard, paid legal fees to the independent advisory group, Petroleum Regimes Advisory (PRA) as PRA was negotiating on behalf of the government of Somalia. – The Guardian