Britain will this week propose that companies employing fewer than 20 people should be exempt from future European Union regulations, in a drive to cut the burden on business of legislation agreed in Brussels. John Hutton, business secretary, will ask for the exemption to be written into the European Small Business Act, which is currently being drafted. The legislation aims to lift the weight of regulation on small companies.

Bumper annual cash bonuses for bankers could soon be outlawed after finance ministers from around the world ordered a major overhaul of the industry's pay system. In a move which may foreshadow new legislation over compensation in the City and Wall Street, ministers meeting in Washington threw their weight behind a report which said banks' generous compensation structure was partly to blame for the credit crisis.

The hastening decline of community life in the countryside is highlighted today in a new Government report. Nearly half of all neighbourhoods have lost key amenities such as surgeries, post offices, shops and schools in the past four years, figures from Oxford University show.

Radical plans to reshape universities by making them more business-friendly and targeting most future new course places at adults in work are laid out today by the universities secretary, John Denham, in a Guardian interview.

Tesco will seek this week to calm investors' fears that its much trumpeted American venture, Fresh & Easy, has run into trouble.The supermarket chain, which is expected to report annual profits of £2.8bn tomorrow, launched the chain of convenience stores in California five months ago with an ambitious programme. But at the end of last month it put the expansion plans on hold, ringing alarm bells among analysts and investors.

UBS, the biggest European casualty of the US subprime turmoil, has promised big changes in corporate governance to address weaknesses that could have contributed to its problems. Peter Kurer, nominee for chairman to replace Marcel Ospel, said he would improve supervision by abolishing the three man “chairman’s office”, widely attacked by critics, in favour of two new boardroom committees.

Business in the Community

For more news from Business In the Community, visit the website »

Interested to learn how your company can act responsibly in the workplace, community, environment and marketplace? Visit the website to find out more »

This email was brought to you supported by:

http://www.factiva.com

Business in the Community is a unique movement of over 750 of the UK's top companies committed to improving their positive impact on society.