News in brief: Sun Life of Canada is fined £600,000, Go-Ahead still on track for train bids, Russian sell-off hope boosts BP

Rip-off: bus passengers have overpaid £2million at ticket machines that don't give change.

18 October 2012

Sun Life of Canada was today fined £600,000 for not properly looking after one of its with-profit business funds with 114,000 policyholders and £1.2 billion of assets.

Sun Life hedged the fund using derivatives in 2008 and 2009 without, in the view of the Financial Services Authority, taking independent advice as to whether that was the right thing to do.

Go-Ahead still on track for train bids

The fiasco made by the Government in its attempt to award new train franchises has not put Go-Ahead off fresh bids, the transport giant said today. “We remain committed to operating in the UK rail market,” Go-Ahead’s chief executive David Brown said. He added that the business had enjoyed “strong” trading between July and October.

Russian sell-off hope boosts BP

Shares in BP rose 1% today as traders became more convinced that it is closing in on a $28 billion (£17.32 billion) deal to sell its share of the Russian TNK-BP joint venture. BP’s board meets tomorrow with an offer on the table from Rosneft, the Russian oil giant. This is said to be a mixture of cash and shares which could give BP anything from a 10% to 20% stake in Rosneft.