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The FTSE 100 has fallen slightly ahead of the Mansion House speeches from Chancellor Philip Hammond and Bank of England governor Mark Carney.

Shortly after the open the index was at 7,523.01, a fall of 0.02% or 1 point.

Dominic O'Connell
Business Presenter, BBC Radio 4 Today programme

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John Varley was one of Britain’s leading bankers, having been chief executive at Barclays for six years, and the charges against him will stun the City. Mr Varley (picured leaving Downing Street in 2009) is the first prominent British banker to face criminal charges in the wake of the financial crisis.

The others charged are Roger Jenkins, Thomas Kalaris and Richard Boath, all prominent Barclays investment bankers. Mr Varley and Mr Jenkins also face charges of “unlawful financial assistance” in respect of a £2bn loan to Qatar advanced after the fundraising deal.

Barclays said in a statement this morning it was considering its position. It said it faced other investigations into the fundraising – one from Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority, and another from America’s Department of Justice.

Dominic O'Connell
Business Presenter, BBC Radio 4 Today programme

Image source, Getty Images

Four former executives, including ex-chief executive John Varley (pictured), have been charged at the end of a five-year investigation into a Middle East fundraising by Barclays at the height of the credit crisis.

In 2008 Barclays took £7bn from Qatar as banks scrambled to avoid nationalisation. The Serious Fraud Office has been looking into payments made to Qatar at the same time and after the deal, and whether those payments were correctly disclosed, and whether those might have been inducements to Qatar to support the British bank.

Barclays has issued a statement, external acknowledging the charges, but not much else.

"Barclays is considering its position in relation to these developments," it said.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The BBC's Dominic O'Connell explained the SFO's case related to the billions of pounds Barclays raised from Qatari investors in 2008, in particular the deal announced in October of that year.

"The investigation was into whether Barclays either paid them (the Qataris) fees that were not properly disclosed to assist the fundraising, or whether Barclays gave them the whole money, which they than gave back by buying Barclays' shares."

He added that many people thought Barclays would avoid being charged by pleading guilty to some kind of corporate fraud or mis-disclosure.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Dominic O'Connell, business presenter on Today, says the most "eye-catching" charges are those directed at former Barclays executives, including:

John Varley who was chief executive of the bank throughout the financial crisis.

Roger Jenkins who, at the time, was known as Britain's best paid banker.

Thomas Kalaris, a senior investment banker at Barclays.

Richard Boath, also a senior investment banker at Barclays.

They will appear before Westminster's magistrates court on 3 July.

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The government must secure a transitional Brexit deal to protect the future of the UK car industry, a trade group has said.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said Britain was highly unlikely to reach a final agreement with the EU by the March 2019 deadline.

That meant carmakers could face a "cliff edge", whereby tariff-free trade was sharply pulled away.

It warned the industry would suffer without a back-up plan in place.

Read more here

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The Serious Fraud Office, external (SFO) has today charged Barclays and four individuals with conspiracy to commit fraud and the provision of unlawful financial assistance.

For almost five years the SFO has been investigating the commercial agreements between Barclays and Qatari investors made during the height of the financial crisis.

In June and October of 2008 Qatar Holding invested £5.3bn in Barclays, as part of a bigger investment package which meant the bank did not have to go to the UK government for support.

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On Sunday, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond used an appearance on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show to call for a phasing-in of Britain's new trade and regulatory relationship with its main trading partner, the European Union, post-Brexit.

"If we are going to radically change the way we work together, we need to get there via a slope not via a cliff edge," he said.

On Wake up to Money the EEF's Lee Hopley was asked what she was expecting to hear from Mr Hammond's Mansion House speech in an hour's time.

"He will be setting out to reassure businesses which didn't have a particularly starring role in the recent election about what the government's really looking for in terms of outcomes from the Brexit negotiations," she said.

"So making sure that we don't hit a cliff edge because that would... lead to some kind of slow release chaos for export focused businesses in particular."

BBC Radio 5 live

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More on the news that trade talks between the European Union and the UK will take a back seat until other issues have been resolved. On Wake up to Money EEF chief economist Lee Hopley was asked what she made of that.

"We're playing a long game here over the next couple of years," she said.

"The European Union has been fairly consistent in what its order of priorities are in terms of addressing issues with the Irish border, making sure that we resolve the UK's contribution to the EU bill on exit and sorting out the rights of EU worker in the UK and of UK workers in the rest of Europe.

"And it's difficult to disagree that those do need to be resolved before we can press ahead with more detailed negotiations on what future relationships look like," she added.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

What does the aerospace industry want from the Brexit talks?

Paul Everitt, is chief executive of ADS, the trade body which represents the industry.

"For us being part of the European aviation safety regulatory regime is incredibly important."

The industry is also keen to avoid any friction to trade at the UK border.

"It is possible to create a relationship with the EU where we continue to be part of the customs union but continue to create our own trade deals," Mr Everitt said.

BBC World Service

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The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, will travel to Luxembourg today to brief EU foreign ministers on the first day of talks with his British counterpart, David Davis, reports BBC World Service.

On Monday, they agreed to set aside discussion on a trade agreement until they had addressed issues including the rights of expatriates, the Irish border and the financial divorce settlement. Britain had wanted to discuss both issues in parallel.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

The Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England will deliver their Mansion House speeches later this morning.

"The government will be reading the election result in part as a push back against austerity," said Sarah Hewin, chief european economist at Standard Chartered Bank.

"Philip Hammond will be considering what he can do to address those concerns."

She said he might revisit the pay cap for public sector workers, the freeze on working age benefits, or perhaps commit to the pensions triple-lock.

Amid the UK's heatwave, it seems it's never too soon to think about Christmas ...

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A merger between Australian gambling giants Tabcorp and Tatts Group has been approved by authorities, sending shares in both firms soaring by 5%.

Plans to form a business worth A$11.3bn ($8.6bn; £6.7bn) emerged last year.

Despite objections from rival betting companies, the Australian Competition Tribunal found the merger would have "substantial public benefits."

Tabcorp and Tatts hope joining forces will help compete against the rise of online betting. Read more here

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The Mansion House speech is usually used by the Bank of England governor to tell us how he sees the economy doing and hint where interest rates are heading - and on Wake up to Money Lee Hopley, chief economist at the manufacturer's organisation the EEF, was asked what she wanted to hear from Mark Carney.

She said she didn't think that many of her organisation's members would be "significantly" affected if rates started to rise, because they're not exposed to a lot of debt.

However, she said increasing rates would be important for sterling and consumer facing firms, because it would have an effect on household spending.

So she said, she would like Mr Carney to give an idea of the "direction of travel" of rates this morning. EEF members are affected by "volatile" exchange rates so reducing any uncertainty on that front would benefit them, she added.

BBC Radio 5 live

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Paras Anand, chief investment officer equities, Europe, Fidelity International was on Wake up to Money. He had thoughts on the news that online retail giant Amazon is to buy Whole Foods in a $13.7bn (£10.7bn) deal.

He pointed out that Amazon had given customers more choice, better prices and the convenience of home deliver. The Whole Foods deal was Amazon's first "serious" move into grocery retailing, he said.

He reckoned the key question was whether the Wholefoods brand was able to be sustained - he pointed out that customers liked Wholefoods because of its organic, upmarket stance.

"Will that brand still be as valuable going forward?" he wondered.

It's a busy day coming up for Business Live.

At 8am the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Governor of the Bank of England will deliver their delayed annual Mansion House speeches to business leaders - with Brexit expected to be firmly on the agenda. We'll keep you posted on that.

Plus, top executives at Barclays will learn later this morning if they are to face criminal charges over a capital injection the bank received from Middle East investors in 2008, we'll bring you the news as soon as we get it.

So do stay with us for all the latest updates from the business world.