iNVEZZ most followed: Lloyds jumps after FCA launches consultation on PPI deadline

Today’s round-up of the 10 most followed companies starts with **Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LON:LLOY)**, whose share price has jumped about 1.8 percent today in London, after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that it would launch a consultation to set a deadline for complaints related to mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI). The deadline would fall two years after the rule comes into force, which is not anticipated before the spring of 2016.

Moving on to other banking news, Sky News reported yesterday that **HSBC Holdings Plc’s (LON:HSBA)** chief executive, Stuart Gulliver, had met with Anheuser-Busch InBev executives in attempt to secure a role for its bank in financing ABI’s possible takeover of smaller rival SABMiller Plc (LON:SAB). The Budweiser maker is said to be working with multiple banks to secure between $50 billion and $70 billion in funding.

According to Sky’s report, HSBC rival Barclays Plc (LON:BARC) is also attempting to play a part in the deal.

Speaking of **Barclays**, Bloomberg yesterday revealed that the bank is set to pay $175 million of a $1.86-billion settlement to resolve investor allegations that 14 groups, including the British lender, conspired to limit competition in the market for credit default swaps (CDS) – derivatives, which act as insurance against bond defaults. The newswire cited unnamed sources, according to whom, JPMorgan Chase & Co is set to pay around $595 million, or almost a third of the $1.86 billion total.

HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland Group (LON:RBS), also sued in the same lawsuit, will pay less than $100 million each, according to the report.
**RBS** made another appearance on our pages today, by announcing that it had applied for a banking licence for its Williams & Glyn business, ahead of the unit’s planned initial public offering (IPO) next year. The move takes the bailed-out lender a step closer to the much-delayed spin-off of the branches.

Meanwhile, in the supermarket sector, **Tesco (LON:TSCO)** has decided to pull almost all Carlsberg products from its stores as part of an ongoing review of its deals with suppliers. The Danish brewer’s products are the latest casualty of Tesco’s drive to streamline the shopping experience at its stores.

Next on our list is **BT Group Plc (LON:BT.A)** which today announced plans for a major expansion of its fibre broadband network in London. The company aims to take superfast broadband coverage in the UK capital beyond the current 95 percent, by connecting 360,000 homes and businesses in the next two years.
That pretty much concludes our overview of the telecoms sector, with no major developments around **Vodafone Group Plc (LON:VOD)** today. The mobile carrier’s shares were about one percent down as of 15:37 BST.

Meanwhile, **Royal Mail Plc (LON:RMG)** has enjoyed some good news recently, as industry watchdog Ofcom has agreed to its request for an exception to its universal service obligation (USO) when Boxing Day falls on a Saturday. The decision followed more than two months of consultation, the regulator said yesterday in a statement.

Wrapping it all up, **Royal Dutch Shell Plc (LON:RDSA)** has this week announced that it has halted crude oil shipments from the Forcados Terminal in Nigeria.

The oil and gas giant has declared force majeure due to a leak in the Trans Forcados Pipeline.