Sunday newspaper round-up: HSBC, North Sea, Capita

(Sharecast News) - The heads of HSBC are facing a major public standoff with those of its shareholders who are keen to break up the lender. Those include its largest shareholder, Chinese insurer Ping An, which has been pushing for a spin off of its lucrative Asian business and which has redoubled its efforts in recent weeks. Ping An is expected to vote for two proposals from a group of angry Hong Kong retail investors calling for a regular strategy review and a higher dividend. - The Financial Mail on Sunday Government's windfall tax on UK oil and gas companies is exceedingly counterproductive. Just over a year ago, North Sea producers were being charged 30% tax plus a supplementary 10% levy. Since then, the tax on North Sea profits has jumped to 65% and now 75%. Yet the sector employs 25,000 while oil and gas meets about three quarters of the UK's total energy needs. Furthermore, North Sea energy involves less carbon emissions than relying on gas drilled in the US and Qatar. The country is also facing triple-digit deficits for years to come. So what is needed is not sky-high taxes but pro-growth policies that would in turn make the debt more manageable. - The Sunday Telegraph

Hundreds of pension funds have been asked by the Pensions Regulator to look into whether the details of millions of people fell into the hands cybercriminals from abroad as a result of the hack at Capita. The outsourcer's IT systems process the pensions of roughly 4.5m people and could potentially leave them exposed to scams or phone calls from unscrupulous investment companies. The company was also a provider of consulting services to 150 pension schemes in the UK. - The Sunday Times

Workers in Britain were increasingly more likely to continue working into their 70s, a study published on International Workers' Day found. Faced with the cost of living crisis, older people were being left with scant choice but to do so. The number of people 70 or older who were still working last year jumped by 61% in comparison to 2012 to reach 446,601. The majority are males but women haven seen the largest increase. That however is likely the result of the gradual equalisation of pension ages between 2010 and 2020. - Guardian

John Lewis will reduce the size of its headquarters in central London by over half in response to the thousands of its staff working from home. The plan to change offices next year however is not driven by a desire to cut costs, according to insiders, but simply a reflection that half of its office space at that location was now not being used with entire floors having been closed off completely. - The Sunday Telegraph