The 10 biggest business stories on Monday February 15

HSBC to keep headquarters in the UK; Predictions of high-street demise proved exaggerated

HSBC took immediate action as soon as the video emerged (Getty Images)

1. HSBC - Europe’s biggest bank - has announced it will keep its headquarters in the UK, after a review thought to have been prompted by stricter regulations and higher taxes.

2. Shell completed its £35 billion merger with BG group on Monday, the Telegraph reports. Shell now faces the challenge of disposing of $30bn-worth of assets at a time when price pressures are working against it.

3. Colder temperatures and the January sales drove shoppers back to the high street last month. Shoppers’ footfall in January rose by 1.2 per cent on a year ago, compared to the 2.2 per cent slide in December, according to figures by the British Retail Consortium and Springboard.

4. House sellers' asking prices jumped to a record high of nearly £300,000 on average in February, a property website has reported. The typical price tag on a property coming to market is now £299,287 across England and Wales, Rightmove said.

5. Richard Ames, Hornby’s boss is leaving the company with immediate effect, after the toymaker was forced to issue yet another profit warning - and admission it could breach its banking covenants - last week, prompting the share price to collapse.

6. Katherine Garrett-Cox, one of the most high profile women in the UK financial industry, has stepped down as the head of Alliance Trust’s fund management arm.

7. The man leading an inquiry into the future safety of Britain's banks has said Bank of England plans are not strong enough. Sir John Vickers, who led the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) told the BBC: “The Bank of England proposal is less strong than what the ICB recommended.”

8. Most major British firms are seriously considering the risk of Britain leaving the European Union and many are making contingency plans, according to the head of the Confederation of British Industry. Prime Minister David Cameron hopes to reach a deal to reform the European Union at a summit of EU leaders this weekend, which he can put to voters in a referendum many analysts expect to be held in late June.

9. A high-ranking employee warned senior Volkswagen managers in May 2014 that US regulators might examine car engine software as part of an investigation into pollution levels, two sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The warning came in the form of a letter, which was sent more than a year before the German carmaker's public admission that its cars had been equipped with software to manipulate emission test results, sources told Reuters.

10. Apple is hoping to build an €850 million (£587 million) data centre in the middle of an Irish forest but a local planning body is delaying giving the green light.