The failure of a Mayfair-based mortgage lender is unravelling into a major financial scandal as it emerged that more than £2.5 billion of investor money is at risk and that retail clients may also be exposed to potential losses, The Times reported. Apollo, one of the biggest investment institutions in the world, was the latest to confirm a potential problem on Friday, revealing that its Atlas arm had £400 million invested in the business, Market Financial Solutions. TPG, previously known as Texas Pacific Group, later confirmed it had exposure of £44 million.

Barclays and Jefferies, the American bank, are reportedly among lenders with multimillion pound exposures to a UK mortgage provider that has collapsed amid allegations of fraud, The Times reported. The FTSE 100 bank is said to have an exposure of £600 million to Market Financial Solutions, which entered administration after a High Court judge said “very serious” allegations of fraud needed to be investigated, prompting the latest source of alarm about the private credit industry. Jefferies has a reported exposure of £100 million.

Rachel Reeves stands to rake in almost £40bn from interest on student loans before the end of this parliament, official forecasts have revealed, The Telegraph reported. Between this financial year and 2029-30, accrued interest on student loans will total £39.9bn, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. This is counted as a current receipt for the Government, contributing to the £1.2tn of revenues flowing into the Exchequer this year.

Thousands more young people are stuck on the sidelines of the economy despite a rise in the number of under-25-year-olds searching for work, The Telegraph reported. There are now 957,000 people aged 16 to 24 not in employment, education or training (Neet), according to the Office for National Statistics. The total for the three months to December rose from 946,000 during the previous quarter, marking the first increase in six months. More young people moved from being economically inactive into searching for work.

Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, has said he is confident Britain’s trade deal with the US still stands after Donald Trump’s 10pc global tariffs took effect, The Telegraph reported. “I can say with some confidence... that the [deal] that we have negotiated,” Mr Kyle told a parliamentary committee.

Thames Water’s senior creditors are seeking approval from ratings agencies for a crucial rescue plan that would prevent the ailing utility from slipping into insolvency, Bloomberg News reported. A proposal to inject billions of pounds into Thames and take steep writedowns was put forward in October, and has since been revised following months of discussions with regulator Ofwat. Creditors must now bring the agencies on side to finalize a deal, since the utility needs to secure investment-grade ratings to meet its license conditions.

More than £300m has been wiped off the value of Britain’s biggest university accommodation provider as the student loan crisis starts to grip landlords, The Telegraph reported. Shares in student property giant Unite dropped by as much as 10pc after it effectively issued its third profit warning in four months. Unite said that increasing numbers of students in the UK are opting to save money by choosing to live at home rather than rent accommodation.

After the Supreme Court struck down the legal basis for President Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Friday, many U.S. trading partners saw the tariff rate on their goods lowered from what they faced before the ruling. But for others, like Britain and Australia, the math went the other way, the New York Times reported. Britain became the first country to reach a trade deal during Mr. Trump’s second term, and both governments emphasized the “special relationship” between the two countries.