News round up: RIMM, Standard Chartered plc, Greece, Russian railways, Tobacco.

Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ:RIMM) has begun manufacturing “beta” or test units of its next generation BlackBerry 10 devices, signalling that the Canadian manufacturer of the BlackBerry family of smartphones is on track to begin sales of the new handsets early next year.

RIM plans to increase production of two new handsets – a full touchscreen-based device and a hybrid device with both a touch screen and a mini-Qwerty keyboard – over the next few months in preparation for a global launch in the first quarter of next year.

The new handsets will aim to change the way people use smartphones by exploiting the multitasking capabilities of the new hardware and software and threading together applications rather than requiring users to stop using one app in order to open up another. This capability, which RIM has dubbed “BlackBerry Flow”, enables users to peek at, or switch between, apps with a simple thumb swipe, writes the Financial Times.

Standard Chartered plc

Standard Chartered was forced to pay a $340 million fine last night to settle damaging allegations from a New York regulator that it had indulged in a “wilful and egregious” breach of American sanctions against Iran.

In an eleventh-hour settlement before a meeting in the United States due to take place this morning, the bank also agreed to permanently install staff at its New York branch to monitor its anti-money-laundering practices. It has agreed to report directly to New York State’s Department of Financial Services, which levelled the charges, about the quality of its risk controls for at least the next two years, writes The Times.

Greece

Greece is seeking a two-year extension of its latest austerity programme aimed at improving the country’s debt sustainability and prospects for a return to growth, according to a document obtained by the Financial Times. Antonis Samaras, the centre-right prime minister, is expected to outline the proposal during talks next week with Angela Merkel, German chancellor, in Berlin and French President François Hollande in Paris.

It comes as Greece struggles to find another €11.5bn of spending cuts – equivalent to about 5 per cent of national output – to be implemented in 2013 and 2014 under the current bailout deal with the European Union and International Monetary Fund, reports the Financial Times.

Russian railways

Russia's giant, state-owned railway company is eyeing a London float in a part-privatisation that would value it at more than 1.7trn roubles (£33bn). Russian Railways, whose assets include 85,200km of track, 1 million employees and 1 billion passengers, is planning to sell as much as a quarter of the business in 2015 or 2016 through a share listing.

Vladimir Yakunin, Russian Railways' president, told The Independent that London was his preferred location, after Trans Container, Russian Railways' "daughter" container-handling operation, was floated there in 2010, reports The Independent.

Tobacco

Australia’s High Court has rejected a challenge by the world’s biggest tobacco companies which are seeking to overturn a new law requiring cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging from the start of December.

The country’s plain packaging act, which was approved by parliament last year, requires cigarettes to be sold in drab dark brown packaging without logos but featuring graphic images of smoking-related diseases. Brand names can still be used but only in a standard font, size and position, the Financial Times says.