Britain’s banks are to fork out more than £1bn to cover the cost of compensation payments made to UK savers in failed Icelandic banks at the height of the financial crisis.

NAMA has completed the transfer of the first €10bn tranche of loans from Anglo Irish Bank at a substantial discount of 55%.

Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct International today reported a 91% dive in profits after its “strategic stakes” in rival retailers were frozen.

British savers who stand to lose millions of pounds through the collapse of the offshore arm of an Icelandic bank received a boost today when a liquidation hearing was postponed.

British building society, Barnsley Building Society, is to merge with its larger rival Yorkshire Building Society after being exposed to losses from the collapse of the Icelandic banks.