Speculation about more job losses rumbles through the City. According to one well-sourced rumour, Bank of America, Europe's biggest credit card provider, is considering plans for major job cuts in card services. City Spy hears wild talk that around 1000 positions could be under threat. But those close to BoA say emphatically there is absolutely no truth to these rumours. Duly noted.

So let us hope — if only for the sake of BoA's 5000 or so staff in card services in the UK, Ireland and Spain — that redundancies do not materialise. For the record, it's worth noting that when BoA released its third-quarter earnings a month ago, it admitted: “The net loss in Global Card Services widened to $1.0 billion [in the three months to September] as credit costs continued to rise amid weak economies in the US, Europe and Canada... The provision for credit losses increased to $7.0 billion from a year earlier [2008 losses: $5.6 billion] due to higher net losses driven by economic conditions and higher bankruptcies.”

Can the Hef be tempted?

ON Wall Street, there's only one story occupying the testosterone-charged menfolk: Will Hugh Hefner really sell Playboy? Shares rose quicker than the Hef's silk dressing gown last week on rumours local fashion brand owner Iconix was going to buy the soft porn empire. But will this rumour turn out to be true?

The fact is, Playboy's been eyed up by more men in suits recently than the average bunny girl's cottontail. Providence Equity, Apollo Management, Oak Hill Capital Partners and Monarch Alternative Capital are all known to have looked at, and decided against, a bid. Iconix, which owns Joe Boxer and Ocean Pacific may be serious, but it will have to offer some serious cash to get the Hef to part with his beloved empire.

Most say they're put off by the sleaze-factor of dealing with porno sites and strip clubs. As one potential investor said: “I might give it a shot myself if my mother wasn't still alive.”

* OUCH! Seems not all staff at fashion house Luella are entirely sympathetic to designer Luella Bartley's financial plight. Perhaps that's due to the fact that they're facing redundancy with little or no payout from the business. Bitches one: “Luella always seemed more interested in hanging out with Kate Moss in helicopters.” Miaow.

Enraged by C-charge

QUESTION: Is the Congestion Charge a bigger waste of time or money? According to John Rowe, start-up company financier, it's a high-scoring draw. Rowe contacted City Spy after an excruciating — and maddening — morning on the phone to Transport for London: “All I wanted to know was if TfL had received my residents' discount application for the charge,” he said, through gritted teeth. “I called up, and was happy to get through to a real, human voice. But, alas, their system crashed — how convenient (for TfL) — and I was transferred to someone who would be able to help… a ringing phone line with all that sorry for the continued delay' drivel. I hung on for an hour, but still couldn't get through. I know we only pay a small amount, but then I use only a small amount of the congestion zone — one mile every day if I wake up late. Who is the congestion charge supposed to benefit? Not me, obviously. Full price for me today. Thank you, Boris.”

Coining it on the slots

NEVER say Nick Harding doesn't know the slot machine arcades business. The boss of Aim-listed Praesepe — a vehicle set up to buy low-stake gambling businesses — tells corporate financier Livingstone Partners' in-house magazine: “I started in the gaming business when I was 10! I grew up in Hunstanton, in Norfolk, and during the schoool holidays, the local kids either worked on the fair or sold deck chairs, so I got a holiday job pushing a broom around an amusement arcade. It paid me 15p an hour. The amusement business gets under your skin, so after university I worked for company running arcades and bingo clubs.”