PRESS DIGEST - Financial Times - July 2

STANCHART AND ANZ IN EXCLUSIVE TALKS TO ACQUIRE RBS ASIA ASSETS

ANZ (ANZ.AX) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) have both entered exclusive negotiations to acquire separate assets of the Asian retail and commercial assets being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L). Last week, both bidders were granted preferred bidder status for different RBS assets, according to sources. People familiar with the matter added that exclusivity agreements mean that StanChart is now in pole position to purchase RBS units being sold in India, China and Malaysia. ANZ is closing in on acquiring assets in Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

CATTLES FIRES SIX EXECUTIVES FOLLOWING REVIEW

Cattles (CTT.L) has announced it has dismissed six senior executives after completing an independent forensic review into the group's reporting of impairment changes. The executives have now left the company, which lends to people with patchy credit histories, and will not receive compensation for loss of office. The fired employees include finance director James Corr and chief operating officer Ian Cummine. It is understood that a further 12 members of staff will face disciplinary action.

CORPORATE FRAUD LOSSES SOAR TO 960 MILLION POUNDS

Corporations in the UK lost a record 960 million pounds to publicly reported fraud in the half year to June 30, it has emerged. The six-month total is the highest since at least 2003, when BDO Stoy Hayward began tracking corporate fraud. "We're being asked to look at bigger and bigger cases. From a fraud point of view, we're a long way from the bottom," said Simon Bevan, the head of BDO's fraud services team. According to its findings, there were 182 cases reported to authorities in the six months to the end of June, compared with 121 cases at the same time last year.

M&S CHIEF SAYS HE WILL STEP DOWN NEXT YEAR

The executive chairman of Marks & Spencer (MKS.L), Sir Stuart Rose, has revealed he will step down as chief executive next year, as rumours mounted that director of food John Dixon was increasingly becoming the favourite to succeed him. Rose said he would only relinquish the chief executive's role if a successor was found, and insisted he will stay on for a period as chairman. M&S could begin looking for a new chief executive as soon as September.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants