WORD reaches City Spy Towers that Andrew Moss of Aviva may not be the only insurance chief executive facing some tricky conversations with the missus (Moss has moved in with his human resources colleague-turned-girlfriend, so presumably a divorce is in the offing).

When City Spy ran an item last week not naming Moss but asking which top insurer had been caught having an affair, it seems Aviva's executive offices weren't the only ones thrown into panic. One other insurance boss (well one so far as we know, maybe they're all at it) called in his top two advisers to confess all, and asked what line to take if the story broke…

* MEANWHILE, other tales of extra-marital shenanigans circulate. One story — the source is the housekeeper of the spurned wife — involves the boss of a FTSE 250 hi-tech research company who has been carrying on with the human resources director (what is it with HRs?) for the last three years...

* ...and more FTSE hanky-panky!
City Spy also reported this week on the extremely well-known FTSE-100 chief executive who is in a relationship with his PA. His wife knows what is going on and has moved out of their London home. But when City Spy ran this story, the phone rang repeatedly, with people assuming it was another, equally high profile FTSE 100 boss. Guys, what is going on?

* ONE organisation that may not be best pleased to hear of the Financial Securities Authority probe into the mis-selling of Lehman Brothers' structured products is private bank Arbuthnot Latham. Motor-racing legend John Surtees was heavily courted by the bank. They stuck £300,000 of his retirement pot into a Lehman Brothers structured product — and lost the lot. So far Surtees has not received a penny in compensation. Arbuthnots are blaming it all on Lehman. This, despite them proclaiming themselves as the “private bank that offers bespoke personal service for all your investments”.

* Pundit John Kay lashes out against those nasty bankers: “The politicians they lobby sound increasingly like their mouthpieces, espousing the revisionist view that the crisis was caused by bad regulation. It was not: the crisis was caused by greedy and inept bank executives who failed to control activities they did not understand. While regulators may be at fault in not having acted sufficiently vigorously, the claim that they caused the crisis is as ludicrous as the claim that crime is caused by the indolence of the police.” Well said.

* NO sooner does the European Commission give the go-ahead for state-owned Northern Rock to be split into what it calls a “good bank” and a “bad bank” than the failed Geordie lender protests that it's wrong to call it “bad”. Why? Because 90% of the mortgages held in this part of the bank are not in arrears. Er, which means a whopping 10%, one in 10, are. That in City Spy's eyes makes it a “bad bank” and it could still cost the taxpayer billions. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

* George's bonus cap is a joke
AN accountant writes in, wishing to expose just how ignorant George Osborne's plan to see most bonuses paid in shares — rather than cash — really is. He explains: “At one time, gains from shares in the company one worked for were taxed at 10% even after one ceased working for that company. The rest of us paid CGT [capital gains tax] at our highest rate. Legislation was changed, so that now all gains are taxed at 18%. You can see how Osborne's proposal would give bankers even more money due to the difference between 18% and the eventual top rate (certainly 50% or more).”

Not so sweet on the Candys

THE decision by property tycoons Nick and Christian Candy to sue the Qatari owners of Chelsea barracks for more than £1 million in unpaid fees has shocked the property world. They've instructed solicitors Wragge & Co to take the first steps in a “dispute resolution” process against Qatari Diar. Where the surprise lies is that professional advisers are often more concerned to maintain good relationships with super-wealthy clients than sue for relatively modest sums. One expert, who asked not to be named, said: “The Qataris are among the wealthiest investors and developers in London, a fact often emphasised by the Candy brothers themselves when they were promoting joint projects with them.”

He added: “I have known consultants to waive larger sums than £1 million to avoid a reputation for being trouble-makers or falling out with powerful investors.” What's also raising eyebrows is that Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, the chairman of Qatari Diar, is also personally backing their flagship project, One Hyde Park.

* ON CNBC's Executive Vision, veteran US takeover king, T Boone Pickens discusses his first acquisition. When he was a paperboy. T Boone: “I had the smallest route on the newspaper: 28 papers. And then a 45-paper route opened up next to me and I went to the manager, Ross Middleton. I said Mr Middleton, could you let me have that route?' He said: Sure you can have it.' I said: But I want to connect it to my route.' He said: We've never done that before. Tell me why you should have it.' My collections are better than anybody else's on the newspaper. Of all the paperboys, I had the best collections.' So I got it.” T Boone was 13 or 14 years old — he isn't sure. “Ready to be a raider,” says the CNBC presenter. T Boone: “I was ready to go, ready to go!”