Soc Gén tells clients how to prepare for ‘global collapse’ - papers

Société Générale has advised clients to be ready for a possible "global economic collapse" over the next two years, mapping a strategy of defensive investments to avoid wealth destruction.

In a report entitled "Worst-case debt scenario", the bank's asset team said state rescue packages over the last year have merely transferred private liabilities onto sagging sovereign shoulders, creating a fresh set of problems, writes the Telegraph. Full story...

A £1bn buyout of blue-blooded City firm Cazenove was confirmed this morning in a move that will unleash multimillion-pound payouts for its former partners, including chairman David Mayhew, the Guardian reports.

Tracing its roots back to 1819 and widely believed to be the stockbroker to the Queen, Cazenove is to be taken over by US investment bank J.P.Morgan, which is buying the half of the firm it does not already own.

It is the third major change in Cazenove's ownership structure in a decade. Full story...

The dire state of the public finances will be back in the spotlight today as official figures show a further surge in government borrowing, according to the Daily Mail.

Economists at Investec predict net borrowing of £7bn for the month - taking net borrowing for the first seven months of the year to almost £85bn.

The figures come a day after the Government unveiled a Fiscal Responsibility Bill - which would put plans to cut by half the UK's ballooning deficit within four years on a statutory footing. Full story...