1 Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, was convicted of negligence for failing to challenge a €404 million payout to a businessman when she served as the French finance minister. The court said that the offence would not constitute a criminal record, but the verdict raised doubts about her ability to remain in her post.
2 A water company has been fined a record £2 million after raw sewage poured into the sea at popular Kent beaches. Southern Water failed to inform the Environment Agency of the spill until more than 24 hours after it began.
3 BP has confirmed its return to expansion after more than six years by sealing a second deal in a matter of days in a flurry of activity that could dramatically boost its reserves. The oil major is to spend nearly $1 billion developing big gasfields off west Africa. It is acquiring a 62 per cent interest in Kosmos Energy’s exploration blocks in Mauritania and Senegal.
4 Ireland gave Apple an illegal sweetheart tax deal without proper justification from the company and based on figures that had “no scientific basis”, the European Commission has said. It also said Britain could be entitled to some of the €13 billion that it has ordered Apple to pay the Irish government in back taxes.
5 A $3 billion investment fund has been launched with the aim of discovering the next high street giant. L1 Retail will search Britain, Europe and emerging markets for retailers that have the potential to become industry superstars.
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6 Efforts by Italy’s third-biggest bank to avert a state bailout by enticing investors were given a thumbs down by the markets. Monte dei Paschi di Siena has until December 31 to raise €5 billion. The lender’s shares fell by 11 per cent.
7 Business morale in Germany has reached its highest level in nearly three years, suggesting that growth rebounded in the eurozone’s largest economy in the fourth quarter.
8 Law firms have advised British banks that they could sue the European Union if it fails to give them a gradual path to Brexit. Banks are pushing for retention of passporting rights that allow them to offer services to clients across the European Union from their London offices.
9 An Israeli diamond tycoon who locked horns with Rio Tinto over the Simandou iron ore deposit in Guinea, the world’s largest untapped source, has been put under house arrest with bail set at $26 million. Beny Steinmetz, boss of BSG Resources, has been detained in Israel over bribery allegations.
10 Shares in Drax rose to a five-month high after the European Commission approved government subsidies for the conversion of part of Britain’s biggest power station from coal to biomass.