Wednesday newspaper round-up: Brexit, Greece, Shell

The UK could lose 30,000 finance sector jobs as a result of Brexit, but EU rivals need to act to avoid importing banking risk to the continent, according to an influential thinktank with close ties to the European commission. The City of London stands to lose 10,000 banking jobs and 20,000 roles in accountancy, law and consulting, as EU clients move business worth €1.8tn (£1.6tn) to the continent after Brexit, according to Brussels-based Bruegel. – Guardian

Fresh worries over Greece’s debts have pushed the country’s borrowing costs sharply higher amid renewed insistence from Athens it will not swallow further austerity demands from international lenders. The yields on two-year government bonds jumped to their highest level since last June and went above 10% to reflect growing anxiety on financial markets over Greece’s ability to keep up to date with debt repayments. Yields on 10-year government bonds were also higher at above 7.8%, the highest close since November. - Guardian

Royal Dutch Shell is to call time on four decades of history as it prepares to publish multi-billion pound plans to dismantle the colossal oil rigs in the Brent oilfield in what will be viewed as a major milestone for the industry. The oil giant will today submit its decommissioning plans to the Government, putting an end to the decade it has spent grappling with how to safely retire the aging field. – Telegraph

Britain’s construction industry is on course to add 35,000 jobs a year for the next five years - but much of this expansion is dependent on massive troubled infrastructure projects. The Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB) annual forecast on the sector’s future is predicting growth of annual growth of 1.7pc over the coming five years with a total of 179,000 jobs created. At the moment there are 2.6m people working in the sector. – Telegraph

Charles Wilson’s charm offensive to win support for Booker’s proposed £3.7 billion merger with Tesco made a positive start yesterday, with one independent shopkeeper calling him a “goose that lays the golden eggs”. The chief executive of Britain’s largest wholesaler and Steve Fox, Booker’s managing director for retail, were at Hampden Park in Glasgow for the first of a series of meetings with operators of its “symbol group” stores, such as Premier, Budgens, Londis and Family Shopper. – The Times

The government could demand that the Bank of England blocks the London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse’s merger, under powers granted to the Treasury when the central bank was nationalised 71 years ago. Senior legal sources said that the chancellor retained the right to direct the Bank’s decision on whether to wave through the increasingly contentious deal in the light of the Brexit vote. – The Times