Wednesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, business rates, Peugeot

The City of London has warned that the loss of banking jobs to EU countries due to Brexit could threaten British and European financial stability. Interviews with more than half a dozen senior bankers and business leaders reveal growing certainty that the threat of losing single market access will force a wave of relocations this year and may cause an “unwinding” of a cluster of related businesses. – Guardian

Beleaguered cabinet ministers are expected to take steps to ameliorate the impact on the companies hit hardest by a shake-up in business rates that has fuelled a backlash among Conservative MPs. Communities secretary Sajid Javid is likely to join the chancellor, Philip Hammond, in adopting a more empathetic tone about the anger triggered by the decision to revaluate the rates based on updated property prices. – Guardian

Britain’s businesses should start planning their post-Brexit trading operations now, instead of waiting for the government to negotiate with Brussels and to strike trade deals, according to the Institute of Directors. “Companies rarely wait for states to negotiate trade agreementsbefore venturing into cross-border trade,” said Allie Renison, the IoD’s head of Europe and trade policy. – Telegraph

Peugeot could be offered incentives including cut-price rates and training for staff to maintain the Vauxhall plants in Britain if it buys GM’s loss-making European arm. A highly-placed source with knowledge of sweeteners Nissan secured to maintain its giant Sunderland said new incentives could be put on the table in the hope of protecting the jobs of 4,500 staff at Vauxhall’s plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton. – Telegraph

A multi-millionaire shipping heir and a former Bank of England heavyweight are among a minority of investment trust leaders who have failed to invest a penny in the companies they chair. Ten per cent of UK investment trust chairmen still have no money invested in the companies they head, down from 14 per cent in 2014, according to a study by the broker Cannacord Genuity. Investors like to see the directors of trusts having skin in the game, according to analyst Alan Brierley. – The Times