The 10 biggest business stories on Wednesday December 9

Alistair Darling joins Morgan Stanley; Bitcoin creator may have been found; North face founder dies in kayak accident

The creator of digital currency bitcoin may be an Australian academic named Craig Steven Wright, according to a new report by Wired's Andy Greenberg (George Frey/Getty Images)

1. The British Chambers of Commerce has cut its UK economic growth forecasts, blaming a weaker-than-expected trade and manufacturing performance, the BBC reports.

2. Dow Chemical and DuPont are in talks to merge, creating a chemicals giant with a market value of more than $120 billion that could then break up into different businesses, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

3. China's consumer inflation rate edged up in November, official data showed Wednesday, while factory gate price falls lingered at a six-year low as the world's second-largest economy grapples with slowing growth.

4. Former chancellor Alistair Darling is to join the board of banking giant Morgan Stanley.

5. Morgan Stanley is cutting 1,200 jobs as the investment bank strives to save money in tough market conditions. The cuts affect 25 per cent of the staff of the division that trades corporate bonds, treasury bonds, commodities and foreign exchange, with the other 730 affected employees working in support functions.

6. Renowned gun-makers, Smith & Wesson, has nearly tripled its profits in three months to October compared to a year earlier.

7. North face founder Douglas Tompkins dies after a kayak accident in Chile.

8. SA Insurance Group is selling its Russian operations, Intouch Insurance, to Russian pension fund Blagosostoyanie for around £5 millions, the British insurer said on Wednesday, as part on an ongoing restructuring plan.

9. The music streaming service Spotify plans to allow some artists to make albums available only to its paid subscribers.

10. Two new reports claim that Australian finance expert Craig Steven Wright is the creator of Bitcoin.