Here are the top business stories making the headlines in the morning newspapers.

Independent review of SNP inquiry

Police Scotland consulted the National Crime Agency about its investigation into the SNP's finances.

The BBC understands the national force asked the UK agency to carry out an independent review of its inquiry last year.

The terms and outcome of this exercise have not been made public.

The investigation has intensified since then with high-profile arrests, searches and the seizure of a motorhome.

Police sources said it was "good practice" in cases of this nature for the inquiry team to ask another force to double check their work.

This is known as a "peer review".

Price for supporting Labour

The SNP would demand the power for another independence vote as the price for supporting Labour in a hung parliament.

Senior figures in the SNP think they could hold the balance of power in the next parliament.

They have told the BBC the cost of their support would be devolving the power to hold another referendum to Holyrood.

Labour have repeatedly said they would not do a deal with the SNP on another referendum.

The party has said it believes it can win a majority on its own - based on Thursday's local election results south of the border.

Bid to break up HSBC fails

HSBC has fought off an attempt by its biggest shareholder to break up the bank during a frequently tense annual meeting.

Chinese insurer Ping An has been trying for more than a year to split the bank.

On Friday, it failed to gain the backing of any other major shareholder as investors voted to reject the proposal.

HSBC chairman Mark Tucker said the result "draws a line" under a long-running debate about the bank's structure.

Despite being headquartered in London, the large majority of HSBC's profits are made in Asia.

The BBC says that Ping An, which holds an 8% stake in HSBC, wants the lender to separate out its Asian business.

More jobs created in America

Job creation in the US remained robust last month, despite turmoil in the banking sector and the impact of higher borrowing costs.

Employers added 253,000 jobs, which was better than many analysts had expected.

The BBC says the unemployment rate fell to 3.4%, returning to a multi-decade low.

The gains were a reminder of the resilience of the US labour market, which has held up in the face of aggressive efforts by the US central bank to cool the economy.

The Federal Reserve has raised its benchmark interest rate from near zero to between 5% and 5.25% in little over a year - an abrupt shift aimed at curbing prices soaring last year at the fastest pace in decades.

Amazon strike votes

More Amazon workers are to vote on whether to strike over pay.

GMB union members in Rugeley, Staffordshire, and Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, will vote in the next few weeks.

It comes after numerous days of industrial action in Coventry which the union says has had a "domino effect".

Amazon said it regularly reviewed pay to ensure competitive wages and recently announced another increase for UK teams.

The GMB is not recognised in the UK by the firm, but workers have since submitted a request for union recognition, after the union says it reached the membership threshold for mandatory recognition.

The BBC says this could mark Amazon's first union recognition in Europe.

Members are calling for a pay rise from £10.50 to £15 an hour.

Licences to develop AI products?

Scientists should have licences to be allowed to develop AI products, the professional body for tech workers has urged.

Rashik Parmar, chief executive of the British Computer Society, made his comments after the Competition and Markets Authority launched a review into the AI market.

The Telegraph says the regulator's review comes amid fears that big tech companies such as Microsoft are becoming too dominant in the fast-moving field.

Mr Parmar said: “I would not want a surgeon to operate on me that didn't have the right kind of code of ethics, was competent, ethical...And yet we allow IT professionals to build and deploy complex technologies without the same level of professionalism.

“I think we need to have some level of professionalism that's certified in the right way.”

Concern for Tata Steel’s UK business


Tata Steel has warned that the finances of its UK business face "material uncertainty" given market conditions and the level of government support.

Tata said a stress-test of its European arm to assess the impact of a downturn had flagged concerns for the British unit.

However, Tata Steel UK said it expected trading to pick up later this year.

The Department for Business said the government is providing support to protect the steel industry from "unfair trade and energy costs".

The BBC says the UK business of India's Tata Steel employs about 8,000 people, with half at the Port Talbot steelworks in Wales.

Penalty for Uber's former chief security officer

Uber's former chief security officer has avoided jail and been sentenced to three years' probation for covering up a cyber-attack from authorities.

Joseph Sullivan was found guilty of paying hackers £79,000 after they gained access to 57million records of Uber customers, including names and phone numbers.

He must also pay a fine of nearly £40,000 and serve 200 hours of community service.

The BBC says prosecutors originally asked for a 15-month prison sentence.
Sullivan was also found guilty of obstructing an investigation from the Federal Trade Commission.

Judge William Orrick said he was showing Sullivan leniency partly because this was the first case of its kind, but also because of his character.

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