Scottish Business Briefing - Wednesday 15 June, 2011

BANKING & INSURANCE

Osborne to reveal plans for major shake-up of banking

THE Chancellor George Osborne will today announce the biggest shake-up of banking in a generation as he forces the big high street names to separate their retail and casino operations (Scotsman).

Read all today's banking news from scotsman.com

ENERGY & UTILITIES

Swinney puts pressure on power giant as it agrees to 10m scheme

UNDER-fire energy giant ScottishPower and the Scottish Government have agreed to work together on a 10 million campaign to improve household energy efficiency (Scotsman)

3.6m first-half losses at mining firm ATH

SURFACE coal miner ATH Resources fell to a 3.6 million first-half loss and has slowed efforts to rid itself of legacy contracts in response to rising gas oil prices and geological problems at its sites (Herald).

Read all today's energy and utilities news from scotsman.com

PERSONAL FINANCE

Runaway debt management firms face tough new rules

People in financial difficulties are to get more protection against unscrupulous debt management companies as the Office of Fair Trading clamps down on the sector (Scotsman).

Read all today's personal finance news from scotsman.com

RETAIL

Scotland's high streets endure worst slump for 10 years

HOPES of a recovery in Scotland's high streets have been dashed by figures which reveal the biggest slump in sales for more than a decade (Scotsman)

Sainsbury's says sales 'solid' in tough market

Supermarket group Sainsbury's has reported "solid" sales growth for the past three months in what it describes as a "tough consumer environment". Like-for-like sales - which ignore the effect of new stores - excluding fuel rose 1.9% in the 12 weeks to 11 June (BBC).

Read all today's retail news from scotsman.com