The UK has not abandoned its battle against an EU cap on bankers’ bonuses, including it in a list of regulations it says do not work, the Irish Times reported. The Bank of England included the bonus cap in its recent response to an EU review of rules put in place since the financial crisis. Leading the review is Lord Hill, the bloc’s commissioner for financial services, who is also a British Conservative.

Top UK regulators are trying to help three Iranian-owned banks reintegrate into the financial system after years of international sanctions — by deploying a unit designed to aid start-ups, the Financial Times reported. The UK-based Iranian lenders would be among the first beneficiaries of the just-launched unit, which allows participating banks access to services such as a helpline and case officers. The Bank of England officially reactivated the licences of the three banks — Persia International Bank, Melli Bank and Bank Sepah International — two weeks ago.

Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, faced fresh questions last night over a tax deal with Google that allowed the company to pay just £130 million in back tax on 10 years of profits estimated at £7.2 billion, the Irish Times reported. Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has demanded details of the settlement, asking Mr Osborne if he or his advisers were involved in arranging it.

Brantano UK, a seller of popular shoe brands including Wrangler and Nike, has been placed under administration, just months after the High Street retailer was bought by an investor specialising in distressed retail brands, Reuters reported. The company's investors called in administrators after efforts to make it more commercially viable had failed, administrator PwC said in a statement. The move could put about 2,000 jobs at risk. Brantano UK is an out-of-town value family footwear retailer with 140 stores and 66 concessions across the UK.

The persistent plunge in oil prices has translated into a new round of industry job cuts, the International New York Times reported. The British oil giant BP said on Tuesday it would eliminate 4,000 of the approximately 24,000 positions in its exploration and production units this year. That would be in addition to about 4,000 jobs that the company cut last year, when it trimmed its work force to about 80,000. “We have to make sure we have a competitive and sustainable business,” David Nicholas, a company spokesman, said by telephone.

Small Northern Ireland businesses whose bank loans were acquired by Cerberus are receiving “unreasonable” demands from the US investment firm – in some cases, to make significant payments within a 24 or 48 hour period – Stormont politicians were informed Tuesday, the Irish Times reported. Insolvency advisers Bell & Co said many business owners with non-performing loans whom it represents were “living in fear of the receivers” because of the attitude adopted by Cerberus.

A British referendum on whether to remain a member of the European Union is the single biggest “known unknown” hanging over the European economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The vote now seems almost certain to take place this year. Prime Minister David Cameron hopes to achieve a deal at a summit in February on the changes to the relationship that he thinks are necessary to persuade Britons to back continued membership. EU officials say the parameters of the deal are already hammered out.

Medium-sized businesses were the most likely to be exposed to other firms' insolvencies in 2015, according to new research from insolvency professionals trade body R3, CRN reported. The research, which was based on R3's Business Distress Index which surveyed 500 UK businesses, found that 14 per cent of medium-sized firms (which employ 51 to 250 staff) were owed money in 2015 by an insolvent company. In total, R3 found that 113,000 UK businesses were owed money by companies going into insolvency procedures last year.

Metinvest BV, the steelmaker controlled by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, said it issued a practice statement letter to propose a U.K. debt restructuring, known as a scheme of arrangement, Bloomberg News reported today. The scheme provides for a moratorium, which will prevent bondholders from taking enforcement action and is meant to give the company time to negotiate with investors, Metinvest said. The letter was sent to holders of $1.1 billion of bonds maturing in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

A day after worse than expected borrowing figures, the U.K. Office for National Statistics revised down its estimate of gross domestic product growth in the third quarter of the year from 0.5 percent quarter on quarter to 0.4 percent, the Financial Times reported today. It also revised down the annual rate of growth to 2.1 percent from 2.3 percent, adding to evidence that the economic recovery may be losing momentum. The Treasury stressed that the UK still had the joint fastest growth rate in the G7, along with the US, and employment is at a record high.