Some data will also be disclosed free of Microsoft royalty payments.. Motor industry chiefs warned yesterday that the Government's road pricing plans could affect new car sales as UK registrations fell for the fifth consecutive month. Sales in May declined by 3.4 per cent compared with the same month last year to 187,900, according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Microsoft has, however, agreed to supply certain information making rivals' products compatible with Windows and also allow them to develop and sell their products on a global basis. This includes the ability for developers of open source software to take advantage of the remedy."The European Court of First Instance will rule on this dispute. Microsoft insisted yesterday that the information it provides should not be generally published under a so-called "open source licence" that would allow free software developers such as Linux, an open source rival to Windows, to take advantage of the agreement.Neelie Kroes, Brussels' competition commissioner, said yesterday: "I remain determined to ensure that all elements of the decision are properly implemented. Microsoft is offering a series of concessions to try to placate the European Commission and head off further regulatory battles with the Brussels regulator. These are the operating systems that run on central network computers which provide services such as file and printer sharing, security and user identities.The Commission concluded last year that Microsoft had broken the law by deliberately restricting the interoperability between computers running on Windows, the vast majority, and non-Microsoft work group servers.Although the Commission said yesterday it would consider Microsoft's proposals and test them with rivals, sticking points remain.

We believe the staff recognise the value of Hoare Govett's approach." Hoare Govett's chairman, Peter Meinertzhagen, has come out of semi-retirement to take on the day-to-day responsibility.. In April last year, Morgan Stanley snatched a team from Merrill Lynch and set up its own broking operation. In November, JP Morgan Chase tied up with Cazenove, Britain's biggest corporate broker with a list of 40 blue-chip companies.The five senior executives had been looking to leave ABN Amro since Christmas and approached a number of banks, including Lehman Brothers, sources said.It is understood that Citigroup has made job offers to other bankers at Hoare Govett, with numbers ranging from the high teens to more than 50.A spokesman for ABN Amro said: "Citigroup made offers to more than 50 people, but only two have left They attempted to poach the entire staff ... The world's largest banking group appointed Mr Mills as chairman of its UK corporate broking business while the other four joined as managing directors, in a group headed by David James.Yesterday it emerged that Charles Lytle and Alex Carter would join the exodus after being recruited by Citigroup as directors.The corporate broking world has been in upheaval for some time as the big US investment banks push into the UK broking arena. ABN Amro's UK broking division suffered another blow yesterday when two more bankers left to join Citigroup, which poached five executives last week.

It said: "The company confirms that this appeal was considered by the Medicines Commission at its meeting in mid-May."GW is yet to be informed of any recommendations made by the commission to the MHRA, nor has it received any communication from the MHRA since the meeting."The MHRA refused to comment, and it is believed that formal notification of the decision could take another couple of weeks.GW, led by its executive chairman, Dr Geoffrey Guy, has received conditional approval to launch Sativex in Canada, where cannabis is already available for medical use. Yesterday, the online medical news agency Agence de Presse Medical said the MHRA's advisory body, the Medicines Commission, had heard an appeal by the company two weeks ago and rejected its case.GW, whose shares fell 25 per cent when the MHRA demanded more trials in December, rushed out a statement after the stock market close yesterday. GW Pharmaceuticals, the drug development company trying to launch Britain's first cannabis-based painkiller, has moved to head off a new blow to its reputation, after speculation that it has lost its appeal to allow its drug on the market without additional tests. GW said it had not yet heard back from the UK's medicines regulator, the MHRA, despite a report citing government sources that the appeal had been rejected.The regulator told GW in December that it had not proved its under-the-tongue spray, Sativex, was useful as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.Although GW believes the drug relieves spasticity, the MHRA was uncertain that this represented a significant improvement in the quality of life of MS sufferers. It will be paid in deferred shares.BA's long-term incentive plan is also being replaced by a performance share plan under which awards worth up to 150 per cent of salary can be made to the chief executive.