Business: the week in pictures

Marks & Spencer has struck a £15m deal with its new boss, Marc Bolland, that is thought to be one of the biggest golden hellos in corporate history – and flies in the face of political demands for restraint in the boardroom
Photograph: Rex Features

Toyota came under pressure over the accelerator fault that is forcing it to recall 2m cars across Europe as the RAC described the problem as 'incredibly dangerous'. The car maker conceded that its massive recall of cars is starting to dent sales while analysts are warning that costs of the safety operation could run into billions of dollars
Photograph: Kim Kyung-hoon/Reuters

A tedious television interview about Australia keeping its interest rates on hold was enlivened when a Macquarie Bank trader in the background of the shot began using his terminal to ogle a near-nude model. A clip from Australia's 7 News has swiftly become a viral hit in the financial community. Macquarie investigated improper use of its technology but later said the banker would keep his job
Photograph: YouTube

Fashion chain New Look – which sells affordable clothes adapted from catwalk trends - has revealed details of its return to the stock market, outlining a plan to raise £650m as part of a March float. The company, majority-owned by private equity groups Apax and Permira, is likely to be valued at £1.7bn. It plans to use funds raised to cut its debt and plough more cash into expansion
Photograph: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Reader's Digest in the UK was at risk of collapsing into administration after a funding deal for its pension scheme failed. Negotiations between its embattled US parent group, Reader's Digest Association, and the UK pensions regulator appeared to have broken down over an agreement for the UK title's pension fund
Photograph: Reader's Digest

Amazon has given in to Macmillan in a row over the pricing of ebooks that saw the publisher's titles removed from the online retailer's virtual shelves – including Hilary Mantel's Man Booker prizewinner, Wolf Hall – from its website in the US. The publisher's victory follows Apple's indication that it will give publishers freedom to set prices on its new iBookstore
Photograph: David Levene

Energy regulator Ofgem warned Britons may not be able to afford to heat their homes in the years ahead without a radical overhaul of the country's energy supplies, with one option being setting up central buying of power. Energy bills could rise between 14% and 25% by 2020 as the industry pays for the £200bn investment needed to reform the system, warned Ofgem's chief executive, Alistair Buchanan
Photograph: Reuters

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee put its £200bn quantitative easing programme on hold, but warned the economy remained sluggish and said it would start buying assets again if need be. The move was widely expected in the City but the jury is still out as to whether the British economy has entered a self-sustaining recovery or is still dependent on support
Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters

Royal Dutch Shell said it would cut 1,000 more jobs this year on top of the 5,000 it has shed in the past year, after reporting a 69% slide in annual profits to $9.8bn (£6.1bn). The fall echoed news from rivals BP and ExxonMobil, which both reported profit slumps due to declining margins in refining and weaker demand for fuel http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/04/shell-axe-1000-jobs
Photograph: Jasper Juinen/EPA

British Gas announced it was cutting residential gas prices by an average of 7% with immediate effect, in a move that will put pressure on other suppliers to follow suit. The UK's biggest provider said the price cut would benefit 8 million customers and save the average household £55 a year. This is the third time the energy giant has cut prices in the past 12 months
Photograph: Graham Turner

EMI, the music group behind artists ranging from Pink Floyd to Katy Perry, crashed £1.75bn into the red last year. The loss is one of the biggest black holes ever seen in a private equity-backed business and threatens to shred the ­reputation of Guy Hands, the outspoken City financier whose Terra Firma group paid out more than £4bn for EMI just before the credit crunch took hold in the summer of 2007
Photograph: Martin Argles

Bank of America and two of its former bosses, chief executive Ken Lewis and chief financial officer Joe Price, have been charged with fraud for allegedly misleading shareholders during the takeover of Merrill Lynch early last year
Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Barack Obama unveiled plans to cut back 120 government programmes to help rein in the US deficit, including Nasa's plans to send a manned mission to the moon. Obama's $3.8tn budget proposals include boosting spending on job creation, healthcare and defence while ending Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy. The $1.6tn budget deficit is the largest ever in dollars, and at 10.6% of US gross domestic product it is the largest proportionally since 1945
Photograph: Reuters

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation empire opened a new front in its battle to get consumers to pay for journalism and entertainment, as it reported profits of $254m for the three months to December, compared with a $6.4bn loss a year ago after huge asset write-downs. Murdoch said he was moving closer to imposing charges for access to all News Corp's newspaper websites, including the Times, the Sun and the News of the World, and revealed the company was in 'advanced discussions' with handheld device manufacturers about a ­subscription model for content
Photograph: Mike Segar/Reuters