Wednesday newspaper round-up: Royal Mail, building societies, pension funds

(Sharecast News) - The International Monetary Fund has launched a stinging attack on the UK's tax-cutting plans and called on Liz Truss's government to reconsider them to prevent stoking inequality. In rare public criticism of a leading global economy, the Washington-based fund said Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-budget risked undermining the efforts of the Bank of England to tackle rampant inflation amid the cost of living emergency. - Guardian Royal Mail workers are to hold a further 19 strikes in October and November in a deteriorating and long-running dispute over pay and conditions. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) announced that the industrial action in the run up to Christmas will be a mixture of single days and rolling action across Royal Mail Group's network. - Guardian

The Daily Mail and its gossipy sibling Mailonline are to merge under plans unveiled by their publisher as it attempts to forge a digital future for titles that frequently overlap and compete. In a memo to staff that sparked newsroom fears of significant job cuts, their editors said they would be "ending unnecessary duplication". - Telegraph

Building societies could be forced to stop offering fixed rate mortgages for months as soaring lending costs cause havoc among smaller lenders, brokers have warned. Some of the UK's biggest mortgage lenders, including Skipton Building Society, Virgin Money and Paragon Bank, have withdrawn new mortgage products this week due to spiralling borrowing costs. - Telegraph

City chiefs have expressed concern that an unprecedented rise in yields on long-dated government bonds is inflicting huge and sudden cash calls on traditional pension funds that could damage the gilts market. Investors dumped 30-year gilts yesterday, sending their price sharply lower and their yield soaring 45 basis points to 4.97 per cent, a huge rise for a single day. - The Times

American regulators have fined 16 financial firms including Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup more than $1.8 billion over "widespread and longstanding failures" to track employees' messages. A wide-ranging investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) found "pervasive" communications on unofficial channels, the agency said. - The Times