The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

British banks are set to pocket well over a billion pounds in cash after UK-based Visa Europe agreed to be taken over by its American sister organisation Visa Inc for up to 21.2 billion euros ($23.35 billion). Barclays said it was booking an initial profit of 400 million pounds ($616.72 million) on the deal, which reunites the European division of the plastic card network with the U.S. body responsible for operations in the rest of the world. (http://thetim.es/1l51U1l)

Thomas Cook was more concerned with profits than looking after the family of two children who died on holiday in Corfu, according to a damning report by Justin King, the former chief executive of J Sainsbury. The report concluded that Thomas Cook allowed financial and legal considerations to cloud the way it dealt with the human side of the tragedy.(http://thetim.es/1l52Sut)

The Guardian

Four oil spill sites in Nigeria identified by the United Nations, which Shell has claimed to have had cleaned up by contractors since 2011, are still polluted, says a report by Amnesty International. Amnesty alleges that in some cases, contractors employed by Shell admit simply to burying the pollution. (http://bit.ly/1l514By)

Major companies convicted of corporate manslaughter will face fines of up to 20 million pounds under new sentencing guidelines. The guidelines, to be unveiled by the Sentencing Council on Tuesday, suggest that judges should impose fines in relation to the size of the convicted organisation. (http://bit.ly/1l53y2Y)

The Telegraph

Quindell, which is under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office, said it will give 415 million pounds - or 90 pence-a-share - back to investors pending court approval next month. The company is returning cash after it sold the bulk of its operations to Australian law firm Slater & Gordon for 637 million pounds earlier this year. (http://bit.ly/1l507cD)

Anglo-Irish pharmaceuticals giant Shire is to pay nearly $6 billion to buy U.S-listed rare disease drugs maker Dyax in the latest round of consolidation in the pharmaceuticals sector, but says it still has enough firepower for further acquisitions. (http://bit.ly/1l50tzW)

Sky News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told Volkswagen it is expanding its investigation into the emissions scandal. According to the regulator, the German carmaker also installed defeat devices in 2014 to 2016 models with three-litre engines. (http://bit.ly/1l4WXWe)

Ryanair reported profit after tax of 1.1 billion euros for the six months to Sept. 30. Ryanair credited the strong pound and savings on fuel alongside "adverse" weather in northern Europe. (http://bit.ly/1l4ZTlD)

The Independent

Alstom, the French electricity and rail company, has competed the $13.6 billion sale of its energy assets to General Electric, the company said on Nov. 2. The European Commission had raised fears that the deal would damage competition in the market for turbines used to generate electricity from gas-fired power stations. (http://ind.pn/1l51I25) ($1 = 0.9080 euros) ($1 = 0.6486 pounds) (Compiled by Mansi Goenka in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Wills)