1 Sam Bankman-Fried blamed his ex-girlfriend for the collapse of FTX, his digital currency trading platform, when he testified in his own defence at a federal court in New York. Caroline Ellison, 28, has admitted fraud and has testified against him previously. Bankman-Fried, 31, denies fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.
2 Food prices inflation has fallen to its lowest point in 15 months, strengthening the case for the Bank of England to leave interest rates unchanged when its policymakers meet on Thursday. Grocery prices increased by 8.8 per cent over the year to October, down from September’s 9.9 per cent increase.
3 Thousands of customers could lose hundreds of pounds each after one of Britain’s largest double-glazing firms collapsed. Administrators have been appointed to HPAS Limited, trading as Safestyle UK, after it failed to find a buyer.
4 MPs have accused high street banks of seeking “to do as little as they can get away with” on raising savings rates for customers. The Commons’ Treasury select committee stepped up its pressure after quarterly trading reports from banks over the past week.
5 A fresh $3 billion share buyback programme is set to be launched by HSBC after its third-quarter profits more than doubled. Europe’s biggest bank, which is under pressure to deliver better returns as interest rates rise worldwide, made a pre-tax profit of $7.7 billion for the three months to the end of September, against $3.2 billion a year earlier.
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6 Oil prices could surge to a record high of more than $150 a barrel if the Israel-Gaza war escalates into a regional conflict, the World Bank has warned. Brent crude, the global benchmark price, rose from less than $85 a barrel before Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel to exceed $93 a barrel on October 18, but it has since eased.
7 The number of homeowners who remortgaged with different lenders fell last month to its lowest rate since 1999, suggesting that borrowers are struggling to find better deals.
8 The long-mooted break-up of Ascential will happen next year, with the marketing and events group having agreed to sell its digital commerce and product design businesses for a combined £1.4 billion, a third more than the City had expected.
9 The outgoing chief executive of Pearson, Andy Bird, promised to continue its adoption of new technologies, despite comparing generative artificial intelligence with “a bratty teenager who’s always right, even when they’re wrong”.
10 The number of apprentices starting in small businesses has plummeted since reforms to vocational training were introduced in 2017.