JON Moulton, the venture capitalist, is among investors considering pumping money into Monarch, owner of tour operator Cosmos, as it looks for £60 million to refinance, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

Interest has come from Mr Moulton's Better Capital, which focuses on struggling companies; HIG Europe, another turnaround specialist; and private equity firms Towerbrook and Indigo Capital.

The shortlist of candidates for the chair at Barclays includes Rona ­Fairhead, former chief ­executive of the Financial Times, and Sir Howard Davies, currently reviewing the UK's airports strategy, according to The Sunday Times. Ms Fairhead ran the newspaper group for seven years and is a long-standing non-executive director of banking giant HSBC.

The European Union has demanded that powers be stripped from the UK's financial regulators and handed to Brussels, The Sunday Telegraph says. The European Commission on Friday called for the EU's three financial supervisors to grab new powers that would dilute the autonomy of the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England.

Carillion and Balfour Beatty have secretly resumed talks on the £3 billion merger that would create a new FTSE 100 construction giant, according to the Sunday Times. Negotiations broke up in acrimony 10 days ago but representatives of the two sides resumed contact last week, City sources have said.

France's slow pace of reform could drive the EU to breaking point if another crisis hits the bloc, the Centre for Economic and Business Research has warned, The Sunday Telegraph reports.