The Bank of England has confessed to helping the Nazis sell gold plundered from Czechoslovakia months before the outbreak of the Second World War, The Telegraph revealed.

Barclays plans to pay £511m in new executive and staff bonuses along with raising £5.8bn to address its capital shortfall, The Times reported.

French lender BNP-Paribas posted better than expected profits despite “challenging economic environment in Europe” thanks to cost controls and a diversified business, the Financial Times said.

JP Morgan has been forced to pay $410m in penalties by US energy regulators for manipulating electricity prices in California and the mid-west, The Guardian unveiled.

J Sainsbury has said it believes Tesco is misleading customers through its price promises as it was not comparing like with like, The Times said.

Sony Entertainment management has been accused of treating the division like a red-headed stepchild by an activist investor calling for Sony to spin off its film and music business, according to The Independent.

The Office of Fair Trading has said 14 of the 50 payday lenders it wrote to were leaving the market and another firm is no longer operating, The Mirror reported.