Lloyds Banking Group’s exposure to the riskiest kind of mortgages is more than double that of any of its top five rivals in what is potentially a ticking time bomb for Britain’s largest high-street lender, the Financial Times reported. Data published last week by the Bank of England showed that loans representing more than a quarter of Lloyds’ mortgage book are worth at least 90 per cent of the property value they are secured against.

Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday the coalition government would press ahead with plans for public sector pension reform in face of warnings from union chiefs of the biggest wave of strikes in almost a century, Reuters reported. Union bosses have said many of Britain's 6.2 million public sector workers could take part in coordinated strikes later this year over the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition pension proposals.

A group of former Halliwells partners have been issued with a demand from the firm's administrators BDO to repay around £21m related to a controversial 'reverse premium' property payout, LegalWeek.com reported. The letters, which were received by a number of former partners this week, demand the repayment of money linked to a multimillion-pound payout awarded to around 40 former Halliwells equity partners. The £24.5m payment was given to Halliwells' equity partners in 2007 when the firm sold a stake in the freehold of its new office in Spinningfields.

The Bank of England said on Thursday that a small British bank with just 250 depositors, Southsea Mortgage and Investment Co Ltd, had been placed in the bank insolvency procedure and had ceased trading, Reuters reported. The BoE stressed Southsea's failure was due to particular problems at the company rather than broader market issues. "The failure of Southsea ... follows a deterioration in its financial position as a result of management decisions and the firm's specific business model," the BoE said in a statement.

Irish high net-worth individuals who invested £92 million in the Quinlan Private-led purchase of a portfolio of almost 50 Marriott hotels in the UK in 2007 have seen their investment wiped out, after a receiver was appointed to the portfolio of hotels, the Irish Times reported. Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed Ernst & Young as receiver to over 42 Marriott hotels in one of the largest ever corporate restructurings of the hotel sector.

Chancellor George Osborne will use a major speech on Wednesday to throw his weight behind recommendations that banks' retail arms should be ring-fenced from their investment banking operations, Reuters reported. Treasury sources said Osborne will endorse recommendations from the Independent Commission on Banking that banks structure in a way that their retail business would be unharmed if their investment banking operations hit trouble. The banking commission made preliminary suggestions in April and will publish a final report in September.

The North’s Minister for Finance Sammy Wilson has warned that lowering corporation tax must not be “debilitating” to the Northern Ireland economy, the Irish Times reported. He told business people at Stormont yesterday that harmonising such tax rates with the South could cost the North up to £385 million annually in reduced subvention from Westminster. Mr Wilson said while the Northern Executive favoured reducing corporation tax there was a “huge amount of uncertainty” over what would be the impact of such a move on jobs, investment and public expenditure.

A trio of magic circle firms are advising on the high-profile restructuring of Southern Cross as the troubled care homes group attempts to reach a deal with landlords over unpaid rent, LegalWeek.com reported. The negotiations have attracted intense media attention in recent weeks amid fears that the group may have to close some of its homes due to difficulties in paying a multimillion-pound rent bill. Clifford Chance (CC) is advising Southern Cross on its restructuring.

U.K. Business Secretary Vince Cable Thursday ruled out a government rescue plan for struggling care home operator Southern Cross Healthcare Group PLC, despite unions urging intervention to protect the company's 31,000 elderly residents, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Speaking in the House of Commons, Cable promised that any resident who lost their place in a Southern Cross home would be re-housed. The business secretary also pledged to increase scrutiny of private companies providing public services.

Britain’s big banks are on schedule to beat lending targets set in a government peace deal this year, it has emerged, undermining mounting criticism from senior politicians that loan volumes are too low, the Financial Times reported. A government minister last week revealed details of the targets for actual lending set in the Project Merlin accord, struck between banks and the government in February. The secret numbers – dubbed “stretch targets” – are about 10 per cent below the official “capacity targets” published in the Merlin announcement.