Tuesday newspaper round-up: Oil, UK pubs, Wirecard
The White House’s stance on China was thrown into confusion on Monday night after trade adviser Peter Navarro announced a trade deal between the two countries was “over”, only to be quickly contradicted by Donald Trump. Navarro told Fox News the “turning point” came when the US learned about the coronavirus only after a Chinese delegation had left Washington following the signing of the phase one deal on 15 January. – Guardian
Europe could face a shortage of oil within the next decade, making the move to increase the use of low carbon energy even more urgent, according to a new report. The study has warned that oil production may fall faster than the EU’s reliance on fossil fuels, raising the risk of a looming oil supply crisis and severe market price shock. – Guardian
Plans to require pubs to register visitors before they are allowed in would harm people’s liberties and pile further pressure on the sector, the boss of Marston’s has warned. Ralph Findlay, chief executive of the 1,400 site pub chain, said the measures would be “impractical”, adding the notion that customers would willingly give the correct information to pubs was “bonkers”. – Telegraph
Japan has given the UK government six weeks to agree to a post-Brexit trade deal, which will put Boris Johnson under pressure to strike one of the fastest trade negotiations in history. Tokyo’s chief negotiator, Hiroshi Matsuura, warned that both sides will need to “limit their ambitions” as there is little time for talks on contentious areas such as tariffs and quotas. This could mean that key sectors such as agriculture may suffer. – Telegraph
Two of Britain’s biggest accountancy firms are facing an investigation by the industry watchdog over their roles in the London Capital & Finance minibond scandal. The Financial Reporting Council is expected to announce as early as tomorrow that it will investigate audits carried out by PWC and EY, two of the Big Four accountancy firms, and by Oliver Clive & Co, a small, London-based firm, The Times has learnt. All three separately signed off the company’s financial accounts in three different years without raising concerns. – The Times
A worsening accounting scandal at Wirecard, the German payments group, has prompted questions over the future of its British subsidiary, which holds hundreds of millions of pounds in customers’ money. The company admitted yesterday that €1.9 billion of missing cash was likely to never have existed. The implosion of the business marks the culmination of years of questions about the company’s accounts. - Telegraph