How they could get this through the competition regulators is a mystery to

"How they could get this through the competition regulators is a mystery to me," said a director of one Japanese company.However, the DTI will argue that the grants have helped to secure the long-term future of Jaguar in the UK, and will be dependent on Jaguar meeting its promise of creating hundreds of jobs. Jaguar says the project will create 1,000 jobs, though it is estimated that the spin-off work for component suppliers should create another 5,000 jobs.The grant is by no means the largest regional aid package, though it is unusual for a company already established in the UK to win such a large sum of RSA aid. The aid package has been cleared by the European Commission.While the news is a big investment in the British motor industry, the decision to give aid is likely to be controversial. General Motors, tipped to begin production of a new small car at its Vauxhall plant at Luton in two or three years, would almost certainly demand a grant as a condition.Charles Golding, managing director of Vauxhall and a member of the GM board in America, said to the Independent recently: "If Ford got a grant, why shouldn't we? All we ask is a level playing field."And Japanese motor manufacturers, which did not get grants when they set up UK manufacturing sites, may also raise their eyebrows.

US car group Ford is tomorrow expected to unveil plans for a pounds 500m investment to build a new Jaguar car in the UK after being promised an aid package worth about pounds 80m from the British government. Ford directors meet later today in Detroit, where they are due to officially approve the investment, which will create around 1,000 jobs and secure the future of the luxury carmaker in Britain. The US car giant threatened to produce the new small car - a rival to the BMW 5-series and Mercedes S-class - in America unless it received government money. A powerful lobby at Ford still favours making the car in America, which will be its biggest market, but the company has in effect got what it asked for and few people doubt it will be produced in Britain.The Department of Trade and Industry is preparing to announce details of the grant tomorrow morning, timed to coincide with a visit by the department's new Secretary of State, Ian Lang, to Birmingham, where Jaguar has a plant. KomanskyTurnover: $18.2bnProfits: $1.01bnAssets under management:$164bnTotal stockholders' equity:$5bnOperations: Corporate finance,Fund management,Equity marketsPrivate clientsInvestment bankingBonds.Recent embarrassments:Orange CountyDerivativesRecent success:Ranked first inInstitutional Investorpoll for bondresearchNickname:The Thundering HerdRecent dealsSeptember 1994 Deutsche Bank bases investment banking in LondonMarch 1995ING buys BaringsMarch 1995Commerzbank buys Jupiter TyndallMay 1995Swiss Bank Corporation buys SG WarburgJune 1995Dresdner Bank buys Kleinwort BensonJune 1995Westdeutsche Landesbank announces big equities expansion in LondonRemaining targetsMarketcapitalisationSchroderspounds 731mHambrospounds 510mRobert Flemingpounds 611mNM Rothschild & Sonspounds 215mLazard Brotherspounds 163m. Schroders, long rumoured as a possible suitor, yesterday denied it was in talks.Employees: 43,800Chairman: Daniel P TullyChief Operating Officer:David H. The first two issued statements saying they were definitely not interested, while Smith Barney declined to comment.

Smith Barney boss Sandy Weil is said to be still smarting from his failed attempt to buy Barings, which went to Dutch bank ING.Analysts speculated that rival bids could be flushed out by yesterday's events. SNC by contrast employs just over 1,500 people.Commerzbank is one of Germany's big universal banks, but like its main rivals, Deutsche and Dresdner, lacks investment banking expertise and international reach. It has a small operation in London and appears to be keen to catch up.The London markets have been tipping Commerzbank as a possible bidder for SNC since last autumn.Yesterday morning the markets tipped three American houses to buy Smiths - Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns and Smith Barney. You need a wage structure and to go outside it is asking for trouble in more ways than one."Tranmere bought the Wrexham striker Gary Bennett for pounds 300,000 this week, a substantial sum for them, but one that would only cover the wages of Platt for five months. Those clubs had to restructure."Endsleigh League clubs cannot afford to compete with the Premiership and are being left behind. But the worrying thing is that top clubs are not buying down the League.

Only a few years ago, about 65 per cent of players coming into the Premiership were from the lower divisions. That figure is falling rapidly."Relegated Leicester and Crystal Palace have been the only Endsleigh League clubs to be paid substantial fees by Premiership clubs this summer, while David Platt's transfer from Sampdoria to Arsenal sent Premiership spending to nearly pounds 60m."Perhaps there is a shortage of quality," King said, "but the worrying aspect is that there have been no major buys from the lower divisions. That means there is no transfer revenue coming into those clubs and some of them need the money to survive."Not only that, you now have a situation when a player knows his days in the top flight are numbered, but he wants similar wages from a First Division club. King of the Mountains (polka dot jersey): 1 Virenque 111pts; 2 Zulle 102; 3 Indurain 77; 4 B Hamburger (Den) 49; 5 L Dufaux (Swit) 38. Profits fell from pounds 95.2m to pounds 31.2m last year, but analysts saw this as an adequate result considering the tough market conditions of 1994. The company, based in London's Farringdon Road, still managed to increase its dividend from 10p to 11p.Anyone buying SNC would obtain a significant equities presence in Europe, the US, Far East and South Africa.Both Merrill Lynch and Commerzbank refused to comment.

But sources close to the talks confirmed the two were in serious negotiations.Phoenix Securities, a small London corporate finance boutique, is handling the talks on behalf of SNC.Michael Marks, who succeeded Sir Michael Richardson as SNC chairman at the beginning of the year, has made clear in the past his view that the future belongs to global, integrated securities houses with plenty of capital.Merrill Lynch, nicknamed the "thundering herd", has a market capitalisation of over $8bn, employs 44,000 and is by far the biggest Wall Street securities house. But NM Rothschild's 25.9 per cent stake has been a stumbling block, since Evelyn de Rothschild has so far been unwilling to sell.Analysts said the proposed price for SNC represented full value for the company which has had an excellent earnings record in recent years. Taking into account SNC's different types of shares, this would value the company at about pounds 490m.The shares closed up 20p at 511p yesterday after intitially surging to 536p on the news.The market has been buzzing with bid rumours for SNC for the past few weeks. Commerzbank bought London fund management company Jupiter Tyndall two months ago.SNC said it expected an offer, if one was agreed, to be pitched at a small premium to the "current ordinary share price" which was about 522p at the time of the statement. The price could be as high as pounds 500m, according to City sources. The key player will be Evelyn de Rothschild, whose family bank NM Rothschild holds 25.9 per cent of Smiths. It is understood that Rothschilds had not yet been approached by yesterday evening, which sources close to the talks suggest means a deal is still some days away.The acquisition would place Merrill on a par with SBC Warburg in the competition for lucrative European privatisation mandates, an area in which the $20bn Wall Street colossus has been weak so far.Commerzbank is keen to follow its bigger rivals Deutsche and Dresdner who have recently concentrated investment banking activities in London.