The news from this weekend – 29/07
Two of the world's biggest multinational advertising companies, French owned Publicis and US owned Omnicom, have announced merger plans worth around $35m (£23bn).
Ross McEwan, RBS’s retail banking head, is thought to be the most likely candidate for the next chief executive of the state-backed bank, insider sources told the Sunday Telegraph. He could be appointed as early as this week, but the decision is likely to take longer.
Business secretary Vince Cable said he was worried that the second part of the Help to Buy scheme, which would provide a government guarantee for a limited number of mortgages, could result in a housing bubble.
A report from the Energy and Climate Change Committee has said energy regulator Ofgem is “failing consumers by not taking all possible steps to improve openness” and that it needed to clamp down harder on improving transparency.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble is likely to be reappointed in his role if chancellor Angela Merkel wins a third term in September as widely predicted.
The European Commission has come to an “amicable solution” with Beijing in a row over solar panel imports. Karely de Gucht, EU trade commissioner, said both sides have agreed a minimum price.
Italian economy minister Fabrizio Saccomanni has told Rome Daily he sees the country exiting recession by the end of this year and growing next year. Italy has been in recession since the middle of 2011 and the central bank has forecase a two per cent GDP contraction in 2013 and 0.5 per cent growth in 2014.
Lewis Hamilton beat off Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel to win the Hungarian Grand Prix.