A banker who spearheaded the rapid growth of one of the UK's biggest lenders before its collapse in the financial crisis has been banned from working in financial services for life and fined £500,000 after being held "personally culpable" for management failings. The moves against Peter Cummings, the former head of corporate lending at HBOS, is one of the first major enforcement actions by the UK regulatory watchdog to arise from the financial crisis. Financial Times

Angela Merkel said Germany's highest court had sent a powerful message to the rest of Europe and beyond, after it paved the way for the creation of a €500bn rescue fund to tackle the eurozone's debt crisis. Markets rallied following the decision by the eight justices of the constitutional court in Karlsruhe to let Germany ratify a treaty to establish the European stability mechanism (ESM). The euro reached a four-month high and European stock markets rose after the court imposed conditions that were less burdensome than German parliamentarians and other ESM supporters had feared. The Guardian

Apple revealed the latest incarnation of its iPhone yesterday: a faster and more powerful mobile device that is the last to feature significant input from the company's late founder, Steve Jobs. The iPhone 5 was described by the company as "the most beautiful phone we have ever made" and is claimed to be thinner and lighter than any other phone on sale. Some of Jobs's famous attention to detail appears to live on in the new gadget. It has a bigger screen and is half an inch taller — but no wider — than previous versions of the iPhone. The idea is to make it easier to hold and to allow people to operate it using one hand. "We're taking it to the next level," said Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive during the unveiling in San Francisco. "It's a big leap." The Times

Prime minister Mark Rutte has been returned to power after elections in the Netherlands showed Dutch voters decisively rejecting eurosceptic fringe parties, dramatically strengthening the pro-European centre in a poll that had been expected to weaken it. With 96 per cent of votes counted, Mr Rutte's centre-right Liberals won 41 seats in the 150-member lower house, a slender two-seat lead over the centre-left Labour party on 39 seats, based on results early on Thursday morning. Financial Times

The incoming chairman of Barclays yesterday called on watchdogs to end "unfair" free banking in Britain, and renewed his demand that banks and other financial institutions publish details of all staff earning more than £1m. Sir David Walker, who is preparing to take over from Marcus Agius at the scandal-ravaged bank, also told MPs sitting on the Parliamentary Inquiry into Banking that industry standards had "slipped in a very grave way". He rounded on the way banks' salespeople are paid by commission, saying: "This commission culture has been very damaging. It's very important we see changes in remuneration practices tied to sales or revenue". The Independent

Facebook's shares have enjoyed a record rise following chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's first interview since the tech company's disastrous IPO in May. The stock closed up $1.50 (7.7pc) at $20.93 on Wednesday, after hitting an all-time low of $17.72 last week. On Tuesday night, Mr Zuckerberg signalled that internet search will become an increasing focus as the world's largest social networking site hunts ways to drive profits. In his first interview since Facebook's troubled $104bn (£65bn) flotation, Mr Zuckerberg said that internet search is evolving into something in which people want answers to very specific questions rather than information that is merely relevant to the keyword they typed in.The Telegraph

The rising cost of owning a car and the lack of transport alternatives could push millions of people into debt, a charity has claimed. More than one and a half million people in England are at 'high risk' of suffering from 'transport poverty' as they risk to be cut off from accessing healthcare and getting to work because it is too expensive to travel, according to the latest report by cycling charity Sustrans. The report, based on the combination of data relating to family income, time taken to access essential services and the distance to the nearest bus or train station, suggests that a growing number of people is forced to own a car they cannot afford because of sky-high rail fares or cuts to bus services. The Daily Mail

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