The leaked loan book of collapsed Icelandic bank Kaupthing reads like a who's who of some of the credit crunch's biggest losers.

Tottenham Hotspur's Joe Lewis, the billionaire who lost $900 million on Bear Stearns, pops up. Robert Tchenguiz, whose investment in pubs group Mitchells and Butlers tanked, borrowed €1.37 billion and was on the bank's daily watch list. They also lent to his brother Vincent Tchenguiz - the more cautious of the two who has still made a substantial loss on his stake in Nicola Horlick's Bramdean Investments.

Among the bank's loans: one to Russian vodka tycoon Yuri Shefler to buy a yacht and to a borrower also buying a £82 million yacht for a member of the Saudi Royal family.

* THE Kaupthing document is dated last September - just before the bank was nationalised. It includes a mention of the Candy Brothers' ill-fated “Noho Square” project. The property developers pulled out of the redevelopment of the Middlesex Hospital North of Oxford Street at the end of October. But Kaupthing says that their relationship had become “strained” with the Candys “as [the] downturn impacted their business model”, so the bank was making “discreet moves” to offload the site even then to Stanhope, its current developer. Kaupthing, which has maintained an equity interest in the property, notes that Stanhope “have deep pockets behind them” and that the Icleanders hoped to claw back some extra cash after planning consent is eventually obtained for the site.

Spear's is Cashing in on gloom

Change is afoot at Spear's, the magazine for the wealth management industry, which has been sold for an undisclosed six-figure sum in a management buyout. Founder and editor William Cash and private equity firm Nectar Capital are buying back control of the magazine. They sold Spear Media, which included Spear's and a series of contract-publishing titles, to independent firm Luxury Publishing in 2007.

Cash claims his magazine is becoming more popular with high-net worth investors who want independent advice about wealth management. Confidence has been shaken by the credit crunch and fraud scandals such as the Bernard Madoff “Ponzi” scheme. “People won't just take references from their accountants over lunch,” said Cash.

Spear's, which is published four times a year, reports a circulation of 30,000. It launched a Russian edition in 2008.

* HEADLINE from Lorna Tilbian, media analayst at Numis on her bulletin to clients on ITV: New CEO with X Factor could leave us with The Bill...

Sir Sandy digs in at Standard Life

TORY leader David Cameron is receiving a lesson in efficient housekeeping from his mother-in-law Annabel Astor. She runs OKA, the upmarket furniture shops. The sector has been hard hit in the recession and OKA is closing eight of its 12 branches on Sundays and Mondays. The remaining four stores are open on Sundays but shut on Mondays. While trade overall is said to be going well, these are the days with the lowest footfall. By taking this step OKA has managed to avoid any job cuts.

* WHEN is Sir Sandy Crombie finally going to give way at Standard Life? Six months ago, the demutualised life and pensions firm said they were looking for a replacement for its not always popular chief. But there is still no word— which may or may not be good news for the finance director and would-be heir apparent, David Nish. Meanwhile Crombie's new job as a non-executive at Royal Bank of Scotland, while remaining at the helm of Standard Life, seems ever more uncomfortable - though the man himself claims there is no conflict of interest.

* WATCH that David Sokol. He's been appointed by Warren Buffett to the nigh impossible job of working out how to turn around Berkshire Hathaway's lossmaking NetJets private jet hiring outfit. But those in Buffett's legendary investment group say the move, far from being a poisoned chalice, could be the making of Sokol, putting him in line as the front-runner to take the helm at Berkshire when the Sage finally retires.

* WHO can he mean? Former Mirror newspapers chief David Montgomery predicts to City Spy the demise of at least one national newspaper. “We are all aware the British national newspaper market is very crowded and the current number of titles is unsustainable,” he declares.

* ELSEWHERE, media bosses are scratching their heads at why it is the Observer that looks like taking the pain rather than The Guardian. Says one rival magnate: “The problem is not the Obs, it's the Guardian. From what we can see, between them, they're losing £60 million a year, of which only £10 million is from the Obs. But whoever's to blame, £60 million is very, very profligate. I can't work out how you could begin to lose that kind of money.” He adds: “Considering The Guardian is the house magazine for the BBC, I suppose we should not be surprised at seeing BBC-style spending.”

* SIGN of the times no.837: a new costume has been appearing at Vauxhall's Roller Disco. Alongside the usual leotards, ra-ra skirts and leg-warmers clad clubbers, were a number of men dressed as bankers. “We thought it was quite topical with all the talk of bonuses and greed,” one of them told City Spy. “And of course, we'll get to use the outfits again at Hallowe'en.”

* ASKED for his top tip for the football season, Ladbrokes boss Chris Bell resorts to wild-eyed optimism.”Doncaster Rovers are going up,” he says. “We'll be in the Champions League in three years.” Eh?