News Corp has today withdrawn its bid to take a majority shareholding in BSkyB. The current climate is clearly not helpful to their orginal plans. I presume that this would mean that there is no longer a requirement for the Competition Commission to investigate News Corp which was referred by the Culture Secretary on Monday.

For the record, financial advisers (often not highly regarded) have had to be fit and proper people for many years and this is simply part of the rules of engagement set out by the Financial Services Authority.