Nov 17 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
The Times
* Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc RR.L Chief Executive Officer Warren East, whose company's shares have fallen 27 percent since April last year, said to investors that after thousands of job cuts, including hundreds in senior management, he is focusing his attention on the company's future strategy. UK's Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday that they would put safeguards in place before launching a new savings product, Lifetime Isas, for the under-40s just days after it was dubbed as 'a mis-selling scandal waiting to happen.' Guardian
* Labour party parliamentarian Frank Field, also the chairman of the House of Commons work and pensions select committee, has asked HM Revenue & Customs for an immediate probe into tax avoidance scheme used by recruitment agencies that is depriving the taxpayer of "hundreds of millions" of pounds. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc RBS.L could face a settlement of more than $12 billion in a decade old mis-selling scandal in the United States, said the UK Financial Investments, which controls the taxpayer's stake in RBS, to the Treasury Select Committee. Telegraph
* Rio Tinto Plc RIO.L has fired two executives amid an investigation over illegal payments of $10.5 million to a consultant related to an iron ore project in Guinea. Brexit is unlikely to lead to a sudden decline in London's status as one of the leading centres for the global capital markets, Barclays Plc BARC.L Chief Executive Officer Jes Staley has predicted. News
* Ralf Speth, chief executive of Britain's biggest car maker Jaguar Land Rover Ltd TAMOJL.UL , has said that the company would have to "see the facts" before deciding whether to continue manufacturing in the United Kingdom. Royal Dutch Shell Plc RDSa.L announced closure of its Glasgow operation with the loss of 380 jobs as a new report from the International Energy Agency warns of a "boom/bust" cycle in the oil industry. Independent
* The Treasury said that the Bank of England has been conferred formal powers to control lending in the fast-growing buy-to-let mortgage market. http://ind.pn/2f1W5hR
* The United Kingdom's unemployment rate has come down to 4.8 percent in September, from 4.9 percent previously, the lowest since the summer of 2005, according to a report from the Office for National Statistics. http://ind.pn/2f1ZQUo