(Evening Standard (London) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Nov. 29--BANK OF AMERICA TAKES THE NO.1 SPOT FROM CITIGROUP: Bank of America has become the world's biggest bank by value, overtaking Citigroup for the first time. At Wall Street's close last night, Bank of America's stock market value was $243.71 billion (125.17 billion) against Citigroup's $243.52 billion. But it was business as usual at its Charlotte, North Carolina, headquarters, with no champagne toasts. Bank of America, a sleepy Southern bank just 30 years ago, has benefited from acquisitions under chief executive Kenneth Lewis, including FleetBoston in 2004 and credit-card issuer MBNA in January.

SPIRENT BOSS HITS OUT AT ACTIVIST'S BOARDROOM PUSH: John Weston, chairman of telecoms equipment company Spirent, today accused his largest shareholder of "wanting to drive a coach and horse through corporate governance principles". He urged investors to reject a call by activist Ed Bramson, who has a 15 percent stake via Sherborne Investors, to remove Weston and two non-executive directors. Bramson has forced shareholder meeting next month to vote him and three of his appointees to the board. Weston said: "This is a highly complex business and the board is already driving through an effective plan for margin and profit improvement."

QINETIQ IN TERROR SENSORS VENTURE: Micro sensors that could fit on the head of a drawing pin are being developed by British scientists at defence research group QinetiQ to watch silently and unnoticed for terrorists and other threats for months at a time.

The project is part of a major new Ministry of Defence effort to deploy automatic, long-term surveillance sensors and involves a three-year, 3.2 million research contract to give British troops the ability to track insurgents and learn more about attacks they are planning.

RYANAIR RAISES AER LINGUS STAKE DESPITE BID DOUBTS: Ryanair has increased its stake in Irish airline Aer Lingus to 25 percent despite looking likely to fail in its e1.48 billion (1 billion) takeover attempt. Ryanair upped its holding from the previous 20 percent level, Aer Lingus chief executive Dermot Mannion said today. He added: "It confirms my own view they are not going anywhere any time soon." Ryanair has set a deadline of 4 December for shareholders to accept its offer but looks set to fail as shareholders with more than 40 percent, including the Irish government, the Aer Lingus board and the trust that looks after the employees' share scheme, have publicly rejected it.

WEST COAST PAYS 23M FOR FLYING BRANDS BOARD SEATS: Tom Hunter's investment firm West Coast Capital paid 23 million for a near-30 percent stake in Flying Brands. The retail tycoon bought out two directors as the audio books-to-flower delivery group issued a profit warning on its entertainment and gardening divisions. It is the first time West Coast has taken a minority stake in a quoted business with no intention of taking it private. West Coast dealmakers Jim McMahon and Paul Davidson will join the Flying Brands board after buying the shares of current chairman Paul Fraser and non-executive director Stewart Newton, who will both leave their seats.

PLANS FOR REFORM OF VAT TO END CAROUSEL FRAUD STALLED: Government efforts to clamp down on so-called carousel fraud by reforming the VAT system appear to have stalled. British proposals to next month change in the way VAT is charged on goods such as mobile phones and computer components, which are often used in these scams, have received a cool reception in Brussels where the Ecofin council of finance ministers failed to approve the plans as required. Carousel fraud, which involves falsely claiming VAT back on fictitious export transactions, has become a major headache for the Treasury with some reports estimating it may cost up to 10 billion this year.

OIL ON CLIMB AS COLD SNAP HEADS FOR US NORTH-EAST: The price of oil rose above $61 today on expectations that colder weather heading for the north-east of the United States will boost demand in the world's biggest market for heating oil. In Asia, US light crude rose 19 cents to $61.18 a barrel, after climbing 67 cents yesterday. Meanwhile, London's Brent crude traded 16 cents higher at $61.37 a barrel, extending yesterday's 77-cent gains. Private forecaster AccuWeather says that cold weather is due to hit the US east coast by the weekend, ending a run of above-normal temperatures that has curbed demand for fuel. US government data on the country's oil stocks is due today.

MATALAN FINANCE CHIEF TO GO AFTER FOUNDER'S TAKEOVER: The finance director of Matalan is to quit in January after the group's shareholders rubber stamp the budget fashion store's takeover by its founder John Hargreaves today. Phil Dutton will be replaced by Euan Imrie, formerly finance boss at Littlewoods Home Shopping. Shareholders were today voting on the 200p-a-share bid which values Matalan at 817 million. Dutton's exit follows that of chief executive John King, who is to run House of Fraser and is being replaced by Alistair McGeorge, a former Littlewoods chief executive. Dutton is expected to get a 570,000 pay-off.

SURPRISE AS OUTPUT SURGES TO NEW RECORDS IN JAPAN: Japanese industrial production unexpectedly jumped to new records, adding impetus to expectations of interest rates rises there. Output gains were led by the car and semiconductor industries as production jumped 7.4 percent from a year earlier, the biggest jump in two years. Japanese central bank governor Toshihiko Fukui yesterday repeated his assertion that interest rates would gradually increase from their current 0.25 percent. The low cost of borrowing for many years has triggered a boom in investment that risks causing bubbles in some asset prices.

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