What The Sunday Business Papers Said

The Independent on Sunday: Railtrack is threatening to pull out of a controversial deal to run some London Underground lines, claiming the Government has imposed unfair restrictions on the scheme.

Springwood, the leisure group which owns the Hippodrome in Leicester Square, London, is favourite to buy rival Allied Leisure's nightclubs.

City law firms are guilty of laundering money for clients, according to an address to be given in Cambridge this week by John Moscow, the New York district attorney who was lead prosecutor in the BCCI banking scandal.

The Sunday Times: Michael Brown, chairman of Thomson Travel, has been asked to step down before the group's agm next year following Friday's profit warning.

Microsoft is secretly developing a games console to steal a larger share of the pounds 10bn market dominated by Sony, Sega and Nintendo.

David Thompson, one of Britain's wealthiest businessmen, is facing severe trading losses and the directors of his two key companies face prosecution for delaying accounts.

The Sunday Telegraph: Energis is poised to buy Racal Telecom for up to pounds 750m. It has signed exclusive negotiation rights and an outline agreement following a lengthy auction conducted by Merrill Lynch.

Gordon Brown's proposals to protect the City's Eurobond markets from the EU's withholding tax on deposits were dismissed by European finance ministers as a joke on Saturday.

Nicola Foulston's pounds 43m bid to take over Silverstone race track and bring it within Brands Hatch Leisure is set to fail this week after the plan failed to secure the support of the majority of shareholders.

The Observer: News Corporation is considering acquiring Ziff-Davis, the Internet company and publisher behind PC Week magazine, for $1.5bn.

Late-September discounting and a price war are being predicted in the car market following disappointing sales of `V'-registration cars this month.

OFTEL, the telecommunications watchdog, is investigating claims that Britain's two largest mobile phone networks, Cellnet and Vodafone, are using anti-competitive tactics to force rivals out of the market.

Sunday Business: Rupert Murdoch has criticised Gordon Brown for ceding his interest-rate setting role to the Bank of England, saying last week's interest rate rise was a panic reaction.

National Power is on the brink of announcing a radical break-up plan that would separate its UK and international operations, with the latter possibly sold to AES corporation.

The Mail on Sunday: Sir Stuart Hampson, chairman of John Lewis, says he cannot countenance the sale of the group. He dismissed the idea as a strange and cruel dream.

Woolwich Bank is to reinvent itself as a retailer, offering its 4 million customers everything from cars to cookers and TVs. The plan will be unveiled at a Confederation of British Industry presentation next week.