Legal authorities unwinding the brokerage operations of MF Global Holdings Ltd. in the U.S. and U.K. could be heading for a legal clash over $600 million to $700 million in customer money that both sides consider to be their responsibility, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. James Giddens, the U.S. trustee unwinding MF Global's domestic brokerage unit, on Friday disputed the stance of KPMG, which is unwinding MF Global's London-based arm, over the legal classification of the money.

The government should clarify responsibilities and strengthen oversight over the new, powerful regulators in its sweeping overhaul of the country's regulatory system, a key parliamentary committee said on Monday, Reuters reported. However, the joint committee looking into the draft Financial Services Bill, which will make the Bank of England the key player in the regulation of the country's financial sector, backed regulators' call for more discretionary powers to avoid the shortfalls of a fully rule-based regulation approach.

Britain is to propose stricter rules for mortgage lending that aim to prevent a recurrence of irresponsible practices -- such as "liar loans" -- that led to the global financial crisis, Reuters reported. The UK financial watchdog -- the Financial Services Authority -- will discuss these proposals with banks and other lenders in a consultation that follows on from initial plans the FSA put forward in July to tighten up mortgage regulation.

The number of unemployed Britons has soared to the highest level for 17 years, increasing pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron to do more to fuel growth and raising fresh questions about the wisdom of his government's fierce austerity drive, The Wall Street Journal reported. The jobless total rose 128,000 in the three months to October to 2.64 million, the highest level since the third quarter of 1994, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. The jobless rate rose to 8.3%, its highest level since the three months to January 1996. Mr.

Unite, the union representing cabin crew at Thomas Cook Group's U.K.-based airline, said Tuesday that it struck an agreement with the company over pay and job cuts late last month to avoid putting the troubled travel group's future in jeopardy, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported. The agreement, which neither Unite or Thomas Cook had disclosed until now, preceded an emergency-financing deal in late November in which Thomas Cook's bankers agreed to an extended GBP200 million ($310.7 million) loan facility and relaxed financial covenants on existing loans.

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron's decision last week to veto a new European Union treaty aimed at solving the euro-zone debt crisis puts a spotlight on the slew of pending legislation in Brussels aimed at the EU-wide financial-services sector—and the stakes for London's financial sector if it isn't able to influence it, The Wall Street Journal reported. The freshly chilled relations between the U.K. and the EU resulting from Mr.

U.S. hedge fund Elliott Advisers LP is suing Vietnamese state-run shipbuilder Vinashin in the U.K. High Court, according to a filing seen by The Wall Street Journal. Vinashin defaulted on a $600 million syndicated loan last December, when the first repayment of $60 million was due. Other investors in the loan, which was arranged by Credit Suisse AG in 2007, include Dublin-based Depfa Bank PLC and Malayan Banking Bhd., as well as Credit Suisse.

State assets agency Nama and Lloyds Bank are likely to seek a buyer for Battersea Power Station after a court yesterday gave them and another creditor control of the landmark London site, the Irish Times reported. The British high court yesterday appointed accountants Ernst Young as administrator to subsidiaries of Battersea Power Station Shareholder Vehicle, which own the site, at the request of Nama and Lloyds, who were supported by a third creditor, Oriental Holdings.

David Cameron was at the centre of a furious row with Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday after Paris tried to isolate the prime minister at the EU summit by suggesting that Britain is seeking to exempt the City of London from all European regulations, The Guardian reported. In a move dismissed by officials in Brussels as an attempt to set Britain up as the "fall guy", senior French figures said Cameron wanted an "opt out" from EU financial services regulation.

Barratts Priceless, the footwear retail chain that survived administration in 2009, has appointed administrators for the second time, after a downturn in trading, the Financial Times reported. As reported on FT.com on Wednesday, poor trading and growing competition from cut-price competitors has threatened Barratts’ ability to pay December’s quarterly rent bill, due on Christmas day. Deloitte was confirmed as administrator to the Bradford-based group, which employs 3,840 staff, on Thursday morning.