News round up: Shell, Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, Tesco Bank, Amazon.com Inc, International Airlines Group, Stock exchange for entrepreneurs, British manufacturing.

Royal Dutch Shell plc (LON:RDSA) is pulling some of its funds out of European banks over fears stirred by the eurozone's mounting debt crisis, according to reports.

The company's chief financial officer, Simon Henry, told The Times newspaper that Shell is cutting back its exposure to European credit risk in the worst-hit economies and putting a higher price on doing business with the region's peripheral nations.

Mr Henry is cited as saying that the Anglo-Dutch oil major would rather deposit $15bn of cash in non-European assets, such as US Treasuries and US bank accounts. The firm is forced to keep some money in Europe to fund its operations, but is keeping the bulk of its reserve liquidity out of the eurozone to avoid growing macroeconomic risk, the report said according to the Telegraph.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc

One of Brazil’s biggest banks is plotting a bid for the prized American business of Royal Bank of Scotland. Itau Unibanco is eyeing a move for Citizens, the Rhode Island-based retail bank built up through a series of acquisitions by Fred Goodwin, the former RBS chief executive. Citizens has more than 1,500 branches spread across 12 states. A clutch of potential bidders for the business is circling amid increased expectations that RBS will sell it for an estimated 10bn pounds.

Itau has become one of the world’s most powerful financial institutions on the back of rapid growth in the Brazilian economy. It has a market value of about 45bn pounds. It is keen to buy a deposit-taking bank in America to diversify its funding base and grow its reputation internationally. Citizens is said to be one of three big American lenders on Itau’s hit list, along with Sovereign Bancorp, owned by Spain’s Santander, and Bank West, owned by Société Générale, according to The Sunday Times.

Tesco Bank

Benny Higgins, chief executive of Tesco Bank, has revealed that he plans to use data from the supermarket’s Clubcard loyalty scheme to rate its customers. More than 15m British households are signed up to the Clubcard scheme, making it the most comprehensive database on the country’s spending habits.

Tesco Bank, which revealed this weekend that it will start selling mortgages tomorrow, is planning to use data culled from grocery bills to judge whether or not to grant a loan. Higgins believes that by tapping into the Clubcard customer base, Tesco Bank could grow to be bigger than HSBC’s British business. "One of the things that lies at the heart of what we are as a business is about applying the Tesco DNA to banking," said Higgins. “It’s about simplicity, about transparency, about rewarding loyalty. The Clubcard relationship lies at the heart of that, The Sunday Times says.

Amazon.com Inc

Amazon will overtake Wal-Mart as the world's biggest retailer by 2020 amid a fundamental shift in the world's shopping habits, according to Andy Bond, the former chief executive of Asda. Highlighting a "period of vast change", Mr Bond said the online retailer would come to eclipse Wal-Mart, Asda's US owner. Amazon currently has a market value of $106bn (£68bn), compared to Wal-Mart's $252bn capitalisation. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Bond also warned of up to a decade of economic pain for UK consumers, branded pay for some top company directors "gratuitous", and threatened to inflame the milk industry row by calling for supermarkets to do more to help farmers.

International Airlines Group

International Airlines Group (IAG), British Airways’ parent company, is considering buying a small stake in its embattled partner American Airlines to protect their alliance. Willie Walsh, IAG’s chief executive, revealed in an interview that the tactic could be used to deliver "additional strategic value" for BA and its Oneworld global airline alliance. A cross investment could also act as a poison pill for any rival attempt to lure American away from Oneworld, which would be potentially damaging for IAG.

Delta Airlines is reported to be considering a bid for American, which would almost certainly result in it joining Delta’s SkyTeam alliance – leaving a hole in IAG’s lucrative North Atlantic route network. The prospect of IAG’s stake building has arisen due to the financial problems at AMR, American’s parent company. AMR filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November and is currently seeking an agreement with creditors to reduce its debt burden, The Telegraph writes.

Stock exchange for entrepreneurs

A new pan-European stock exchange for entrepreneurs is being planned by NYSE Euronext to plug the gap in funding for small companies and help them raise money from investors more easily. The exchange – dubbed the “Entrepreneurs’ Exchange” by NYSE Euronext – will facilitate fundraising via issues of bonds as well as equity.

Companies would carry out both initial public offerings of shares and initial bond offerings, and even a "Pre-IPO" of convertibles, that is investments that would in time convert from bonds into equities. The new exchange, which will be carved out of existing Euronext and Alternext markets, is the latest attempt by policy makers and exchange operators to boost corporate growth following the financial crisis, The Financial Times says.

British manufacturing

Fears of a protracted recession will intensify today amid signs that Britain’s manufacturing engine room is running out of steam. Publishing its latest SME trends survey, the CBI said sentiment among small- and medium-sized manufacturers had deteriorated, while output had fallen for the first time since autumn 2009.

The business lobby group, which polled hundreds of firms across the UK for the quarterly report, warned of a "challenging" domestic backdrop, uncertainty over the Eurozone and a "broader loss of momentum" in the global economy. There were a couple of brighter spots, though, with firms expecting output to be broadly flat in the coming quarter. Many respondents are also sticking with their plans to take on additional staff, The Scotsman says.