The Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee has warned that George Osborne’s plan to stop rising energy bills by starting a fracking revolution may not bring down gas prices, according to The Independent.

According to the head of Santander UK, the bank’s prospects in Britain are looking up despite the company recording a sharp drop in profits in the first quarter, writes The Times. Profits at the British unit of the Spanish lender were down 22%, though this was better than the group-wide decline of 26%.

 The Telegraph says Jim O’Neil, head of the UK Financial Investments (UKFI) which manages the government’s investments in RBS and Lloyds, has resigned, “deal[ing] a blow to the government’s hopes of selling the stakes in the near future”.

According to the Financial Times, the Bank of Japan has said that it would keep the pace of its monetary easing the same as it outlined three weeks ago, after data showed that deflation remains deeply entrenched in the economy.

Barclays Chairman Sir David Walker promised investors that he will crack down on excessive employee remuneration, after the group was criticised by shareholders yesterday at a London annual general meeting, reports The Guardian.

Jens Weidmann, head of Germany’s Bundesbank, last night raised questions about the European Central Bank’s Outright Monetary Transactions programme, asking whether it was really necessary and suggested it represents a great risk to taxpayers, reports the Financial Times.