Wednesday newspaper round-up: Gambling companies, Walgreens Boots, RBS, Sports Direct

More than 9,000 of the richest people in the UK collected more than £1m each in capital gains last year, exploiting a loophole that could result in them paying tax at a rate as low as 10%. Economists at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) thinktank said wealthy professionals often chose to form companies and partnerships to be eligible for lower capital gains tax (CGT) rates rather than collect salaries that would be subject to the top rate of income tax. – Guardian

The UK betting industry has devised five safer gambling commitments, as the embattled sector attempts to avoid having new regulations imposed on it by central government. The announcement comes in the same week that shares in UK gambling firms lost nearly £1.2bn in value, after the Guardian revealed that MPs had recommended curbs on online casino games worth more than £2bn a year to the industry. – Guardian

Walgreens Boots Alliance has been mulling a deal to go private in what could potentially be the largest ever leveraged buyout. The US drug store chain, which has a market value of $55bn (£43bn) and $16.8bn of debt, has had preliminary discussions with some of the world’s largest private equity firms, according to Reuters. – Telegraph

The government pressured Royal Bank of Scotland to foreclose on business customers and acquire their properties, according to the executive who ran the bank’s disgraced restructuring unit. Derek Sach, former head of RBS’s Global Restructuring Group, told the High Court yesterday that a Treasury agency had tried to influence many of the decisions taken by the division. – The Times

Sports Direct has said it will not rescue any more distressed retailers until politicians introduce better protection for shareholders facing losses from collapsed companies. Mike Ashley, the billionaire founder and chief executive of the sportswear chain, has a record of buying British retailers out of administration. He bought Jack Wills, a fashion brand, for £12.8 million in August. He also has snapped up House of Fraser, the department stores chain, Sofa.com, which sells furniture online, and Evans Cycles, the bicycle seller. – The Times