Daily Telegraph- The chief executive of the sugar refining group Tate & Lyle has hit out at hedge funds and other commodity speculators, calling for them to face greater regulation in a bid to hold back soaring food prices.

Hedge funds have been blamed for contributing to the rocketing price of commodities including oil, wheat and corn by speculating in the futures market with highly leveraged bets on forward prices.

Tate & Lyle boss Iain Ferguson called for limits to be placed on speculators’ involvement in the futures market and the way hedge funds and others finance their activity.

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Daily Telegraph- The High Court has rejected an audacious last-gasp bid by hedge funds to block Candover’s £1.8bn bid for oil services group Expro.

Hedge funds holding around 25pc of Expro – led by Mason Capital and Sandell Asset Management – asked the court on Monday to block the deal and force Expro’s board to reconsider a riskier – but higher – offer from US giant Halliburton. But yesterday Mr Justice David Richards dismissed the argument by the hedge funds’ lawyers that under Takeover Panel rules Expro should have run an auction between the two rivals.

"I do not accept the criticisms of the board made by the shareholders," said Mr Justice Richards.

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Daily Telegraph- German leaders are to propose a worldwide ban on oil trading by speculators, blaming the latest spike in crude prices on manipulation by hedge funds.

It is the most drastic proposal to date amid escalating calls from Europe, the US and Asia for controls on market forces, underscoring the profound shift in the political climate since the credit crunch began. India has already suspended futures trading of five commodities.

Uwe Beckmeyer, transport chief for Germany’s Social Democrats, said his party would call for joint measures by the G8 powers to prohibit leveraged trading on energy contracts. "It’s an extreme step but it has to be done," he told the Berlin media.

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