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A prosecutor in the German city of Duesseldorf has confirmed that he is looking into allegations against Dr Ackermann and Rolf Breuer, head of the bank’s supervisory board, in connection with its sale of life insurer Deutsche Herold to Zurich Financial Services.

Dr Ackermann already faces trial for breach of trust in connection with huge bonus payments made to at wireless firm Mannesmann on the completion of its sale to UK mobile phone giant Vodafone in 2000, when Dr Ackermann was a member of Mannesmann’s supervisory board.

Prosecutor Bernhard Englisch stressed that the latest inquiry was “at a very early stage”.

‘Unsustainable’

Mr Englisch said the investigation had yet to show whether the pair’s actions “could come into question at all”.

A Deutsche Bank spokesman has said that the allegations were , Reuters news agency reported.

Deutsche Bank sold Deutsche Herold to Swiss insurance giant Zurich in April 2002 as part of an assets swap totalling $2.5bn (1.5bn).

The stem from a private complaint which centres on whether the sale led to a drop in the value of life insurance policies held by Herold clients, the prosecutor said.

The Duesseldorf prosecutor’s office also carried out the investigation that led to charges against Dr Ackermann in connection with the sale of Mannesmann to Vodafone.

Dr Ackermann has denied any wrongdoing in the Mannesmann case. Deutsche Bank has backed him fully.

Dr Ackermann has not yet made any comment on the latest investigation.

Insured losses could reach $21.7bn (12bn), according to the Insurance Institute, breaking the record set by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

The insurance industry had to pay out $15.5bn, or $20bn in current values, to repair the damage caused by Andrew.

The Caribbean and southern US have been hit by four storms since mid-August.

The most recent, Hurricane Jeanne, killed six people and left up to two million without electricity when it swept through Florida at the weekend.

Quadruple whammy

Between them, the four have killed dozens and forced millions more to evacuate their homes across the Caribbean and three southern US states over the last six weeks.

While none of them has been as severe as Hurricane Andrew, their arrival in quick succession has inflicted heavy cumulative damage across the region.

Meteorologists say the 2004 hurricane season has been among the most destructive of the past 100 years.

The cost of repairing the damage caused by Andrew triggered the bankruptcy of 12 home insurance companies in the US.

It also pushed many of the that make up the Lloyd’s of London insurance market close to financial collapse.

The insurance industry has since reduced its exposure to hurricane damage, with government-backed bodies increasingly underwriting losses in the most vulnerable regions.

Analysts say that a repeat of the financial crisis that hit the industry in the wake of Hurricane Andrew is unlikely.

The latest quarterly survey of the industry showed business volumes and rose sharply for the fourth consecutive quarter.

In total, 51% of businesses said they were more optimistic than three months ago while only 7% were less confident.

The CBI said the balance of plus 44% was the strongest showing in five years.

The figure compares with a balance of 29% in the previous survey, published in December.

boost’

The CBI’s head of economic analysis, Doug Godden, said the study showed companies were confident about their demand .

“A year of solid business growth, the revival in the stock market last year and growth in the wider economy have given financial services firms a boost,” Mr Godden said.

But he added that the full impact on confidence of the fatal bomb attacks in Madrid had yet to be seen.

While volumes rose across the sector, sharp contrasts could be seen between different business areas.

General insurers, fund managers and building societies all recorded strong growth, while banks and insurance brokers said they had only seen slight growth.

The CBI also said that insurance brokers suffered big falls in profitability, but profits at fund managers, securities traders and general insurers grew the fastest.

The is already setting in among Britain’s army of independent financial advisers. Nostalgia for a time when their role was protected in the marketplace.

But independence won’t be so prominent under these new rules on giving advice.

NEW ADVICE RULES Own brand - One range of pensions investments and insurance Limited brands - Choice from a small panel Any brand - IFAs should look for the best deal

Banks and building societies will be offering their own brand financial products, a range of pensions, investments and insurance as they do now.

But if they want they’ll also be allowed to offer a limited selection of brands. And this is the big change. It will look like choice but in reality the choice will be from a small panel of providers.

And that will compete directly with what’s on offer from independent financial advisers, who should be looking for the best deal for a customers by scouring the whole market.

Barclays is one of the few that’s indicated it will move to the new middle way of giving advice, where it is tied to a small band of investment providers, or as the jargon goes.

Bradford & Bingley is unusual for a big player in that it gives independent financial advice, but it’s planning to change to the new limited option, and a number of smaller financial advice firms are following suit.

A sign perhaps that the age when independence ruled is coming to an end.

Most will be announcing which way they plan to go over the next few weeks.

Aviva will finance the deal through debt and a 900m share issue. It will pay $69 for each Amerus share, 10% more than the closing price on 6 July.

Buying Iowa-based Amerus will enable Aviva to increase its presence in the US, where it has previously admitted that it is .

The world’s fifth-largest insurer, Aviva also reported “strong” trading.

It said operating profit for the six months to 30 June was expected to be at least 1.65bn, up from 1.32bn in the same period a year ago

The acquisition of Amerus will transform Aviva’s US business Aviva statement See Aviva’s share price

“The strength of the trading statement today has understandably been completely overshadowed by the announcement of the US acquisition,” said Richard Hunter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown .

Mr Hunter said that despite concerns Aviva may be overpaying for Amerus, the deal will help boost earnings and may protect it from a slowdown in European demand.

“The news, on the whole, has been favourably received and the shares remain very positively viewed by the market,” Mr Hunter said.

Aviva’s shares dropped 23 pence, or 3.2%, to 690p by the end of Thursday trading.

‘Leading position’

One of the main drivers of profit growth in recent quarters has been Aviva’s international business and the company is looking to build on that success.

“This acquisition establishes a leadership position within a key segment of the world’s largest long-term savings market,” said Richard Harvey, Aviva’s chief executive.

“Amerus is a , innovative and fast-growing business,” he added.

Aviva said that Amerus was the number one seller of equity-index linked life insurance in the US, with total revenues of $1.6bn and pre-tax operating income of $327m in 2005.

“The acquisition of Amerus will transform Aviva’s US business, a leading position in a high-growth segment of the world’s largest savings market,” Aviva said.

The Financial Services Authority has warned insurers that they will face millions of pounds in fines - unless they start handling about endowments properly.

In a letter sent to the chief executives of larger mortgage endowment firms and financial advisers, the regulator told mortgage endowment providers not to use the Financial Ombudsman Service as an to handling complaints themselves.

Other stories in today’s programme

The history of banking in this country goes back to King Charles I who took the private gold deposited in the Tower of London. Since he walked off with everyone’s gold - people got nervous. They started giving it to goldsmiths to look after. Adam took a look at the evolution of the banking system.

Shoppers chose to stay away, or spend less, in the run up to Christmas than they did last year. But we hit the sales like there was no tomorrow. So what effect did this have on retail figures and why does it matter? Gillian, who has recently been released from Newsnight for good behaviour, gave us the answers.

The British fundraising effort for the Asian Tsunami is being co-ordinated by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). So far, more than 76m has been pledged. But what exactly happens to this money and how can we be sure it will actually reach those who need it most? We talked to Pat Wilson of the DEC.

Millions have vanished from Turkish bank accounts. But it’s all above board as the there has knocked six zeros off the Turkish Lira.

The life insurance company, Axa Sun Life, has lowered annual bonus payouts for up to 50,000 with-profits investors.

A petrol price war could break out in the UK after two leading supermarkets cut the price of fuel. Asda announced it is shaving 3p off the cost of a litre of unleaded petrol - cutting the price to 76.9p.