Wednesday newspaper round-up: Vodafone, car finance loans, UK legal services

(Sharecast News) - Vodafone has launched a fourth investigation into the historical conduct within its franchising division, which is at the centre of a �120m high court claim against the mobile phone group. Vodafone is also understood to have offered financial settlements to a selection of former franchisees who are outside the group of 62 currently suing the business. - Guardian

The boss of the Confederation of British Industry has suggested the chancellor should tear up Labour's manifesto pledge not to raise taxes on working people, in a significant intervention before the budget. Rachel Reeves is widely expected to present a package of tax rises in her 26 November statement to offset deteriorating economic forecasts. However, the chancellor has been hamstrung by Labour's promise not to increase the three main revenue-raisers for the Treasury: income tax, national insurance and VAT. - Guardian

Rachel Reeves has dismissed suggestions that Labour should introduce a wealth tax when challenged on the issue by a deputy leader contender. Ms Reeves said it would be a "mistake" to implement wealth taxes that were "unproven", even as she gave one of the clearest signals yet that she was preparing another round of tax rises. - Telegraph

Around 30 million car finance loans are under scrutiny by the City watchdog to see if they qualify for mis-selling compensation payments, according to its chief executive. On Tuesday, Nikhil Rathi, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive, said the agency was examining the agreements - which were taken out between 2007 and 2020 - to see if they were mis-sold by banks and qualify for the FCA's mass redress scheme. - Telegraph

Companies, increasingly aware that they might have overdone their post-lockdown resizing, are wanting to move back into bigger, newer offices but are finding that there is next to no space like that available. The trend during the pandemic was to move to better but smaller offices, with bosses and workers expecting working from home to stick around. However, more businesses are now asking their staff to come back into the office more regularly, which has led to growing demand for bigger spaces. - The Times

Britain's legal services trade balance increased by more than half in the past four years, scotching fears that Brexit would harm solicitors' work for foreign clients. Figures from the Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, showed that the balance of legal services exports relative to imports rose from �4.8 billion in 2020 to slightly more than �7.4 billion last year. - The Times