Morning Business News, Tuesday 17 August: Barclays, petrol prices, Vedanta Resources and Goldman boss Blankfein.

Barclays Plc (LON:BARC) reached a settlement with US prosecutors that allows the bank to close the lid on an investigation into its business dealings with individuals linked to Cuba, Iran, Libya, Myanmar and Sudan.

The countries are all under some form of US sanction which bans financial institutions from doing any business with various individuals.

Barclays forked out $298m to close the case.

The investigation relates to transactions worth $500m undertaken by Barclays between March 1995 and September 2006, which are alleged to have involved the bank removing details from payments to hide the identity of the countries of origin, the Telegraph says.

Barclays shares are 0.69% higher on the FTSE 100.

Petrol retailers fight to keep costs down

Petrol retailers have fired a "warning shot" to the coalition Government to stick to pre-election pledges over rising road fuel prices.

RMI Independent Petrol Retailers Association, which represents two-thirds of the country's 9,000 forecourt sites, has written to the Prime Minister asking him to "urgently" set up a working party of Government and industry to tackle the issue, according to the Telegraph.

Vedanta Resources

Plans by Vedanta Resources (LON:VED) to build a bauxite mine in the Indian state of Orissa were dealt a new blow yesterday when a government-appointed panel advised against the project.

The Saxena panel was appointed by New Delhi to investigate claims that the mining giant's proposed excavations in the Niyamgiri hills would destroy the lifestyle of the Dongria Kondh tribe, the Independent reports.

Goldman boss Blankfein

Lloyd Blankfein cashed in a $6.1m (3.9m) profit on options he received 10 years ago as part of a $23m windfall shared by five of Goldman Sachs' leading executives.

Blankfein, chairman and chief executive of the Wall Street bank since 2006, and his senior colleagues reaped the rewards through exercising their rights to buy shares – known as options – handed to them over the past decade, writes the Telegraph.