PRESS DIGEST - Sunday British business - Dec 23

LONDON Dec 23 (Reuters) - British newspapers reported the following business stories on Sunday:

Sunday Telegraph

BARCLAYS TO CRACK DOWN ON HIGH PAY

Barclays is to rewrite its rules on pay and bonuses in an attempt to drive down costs and stop criticism over how it incentivises staff. Former Financial Services Authority Chief Executive Hector Sants, due to join the bank in January, will play a key role in the new strategy, to be revealed in February.

HESTER BEGINS MORAL CRUSADE TO REFORM RBS

Stephen Hester, chief executive of state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland, plans a moral overhaul of the bank, saying his employees must be "obsessive" in considering the external impact of everything they do.

ROTHSCHILD WARNED OVER BUMI VOTE BY CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Nat Rothschild and other founder investors should be barred from voting on plans to resurrect struggling coal miner Bumi to allow the business to move on, newly installed Chief Executive Nick von Schirnding said.

HALIFAX CUSTOMERS COULD BE IN LINE FOR COMPENSATION

Thousands of customers of Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, could be able to claim compensation after the bank forgot to tell them it was raising the price of its Ultimate Reward account, breaking regulatory rules.

Sunday Times

FACEBOOK FUNNELS 440 MLN POUNDS THROUGH TAX HAVEN

Social network Facebook funnelled 440 million pounds ($712 million) into a tax haven last year, enabling it to pay just 2.9 million pounds of corporation tax on more than 800 million pounds of oversees profits in 2011.

TESCO EXECUTIVES RACK UP 29 MLN POUND PRIVATE JET BILL

Tesco has spent nearly 29 million pounds on private jets since 2005 to fly its top executives around the world.

HEDGE FUND BREVAN HOWARD PAYS STAFF 150 MLN POUNDS

Brevan Howard paid its traders more than 150 million pounds in salaries and bonuses in the year to March after strong performance saw fees from the portfolios it manages rise 57 percent.

Mail on Sunday

HEWLETT-PACKARD TO AXE AUTONOMY STAFF

U.S. computer firm Hewlett-Packard is expected to axe up to 200 staff at its British subsidiary Autonomy, which it last month accused of "serious accounting improprieties".