The writer is a founding partner of Veritum Partners “Are banks investable?’ was a common question asked at the height of the global financial crisis 15 years ago. Back then the main concern was a complete breakdown in trust in how they valued their assets. Today, a similar question is again being asked, but this
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Late last year in Beijing, officials from several of China’s technology, trade and defence agencies were called to a series of secret meetings with a single purpose: to respond to America’s sweeping restrictions on selling computer chips to Chinese companies. In July, Beijing announced its response: it imposed restrictions on the exports of gallium and
When historians come to write about the lasting impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they should leaf through the annual reports of European companies. The Financial Times reported last Sunday that Europe’s biggest businesses had so far taken a direct hit of more than €100bn to profits as a result of quitting or scaling back
Engine No. 1 burst on to corporate America’s radar in 2021 as the little hedge fund that bested ExxonMobil. The investor holding 0.02 per cent of the oil major’s shares won three seats on the board with a demand to take climate change more seriously. Two years on, the excitement has faded even as climate
A closely watched gauge of long-term inflation expectations in the eurozone has reached its highest level since 2010, in a sign that some investors think the European Central Bank will struggle to bring inflation back to its 2 per cent target. The so-called five-year, five-year forward inflation swap — a measure of markets’ assessment of
Italy became the biggest European market to impose a windfall tax on its banks this week, joining a wave of governments in the region seeking to raise cash by targeting the profits and revenues of lenders buoyed by rising interest rates. As governments face pressure to support citizens struggling with increased energy and housing costs,
The government is pushing back against an attempt by some members of the House of Lords to close loopholes in transparency legislation that was passed last year as part of a crackdown on dirty money passing through the UK. In a letter sent by the Treasury and the UK government’s business department to a member
China’s economy has fallen into deflation after consumer prices declined for the first time since early 2021, in one of the starkest indicators of the challenges facing policymakers as they struggle to revive consumption. The consumer price index fell 0.3 per cent year on year in July, according to official statistics released on Wednesday, after
Northern Ireland police were investigating a data breach on Tuesday that led to the names and roles of thousands of serving officers being published on a public website. The body representing rank-and-file officers criticised the security blunder, saying it could cause “incalculable damage” in the wrong hands. The Police Service of Northern Ireland stated that
The deal comes six months after Penn completed its acquisition of Barstool, the sport gambling and entertainment site founded by Dave Portnoy © Dado Ruvic/Reuters US sport betting company Penn Entertainment is ending its $551mn purchase of Barstool Sports and will instead co-brand its sportsbooks with Disney’s ESPN, a first for the cable network. Terms
Italy said late on Tuesday it would limit the impact of its planned windfall tax on banks to ensure financial stability, in an apparent partial backtrack after the surprise levy plan caused bank shares to drop sharply. The finance ministry said in a statement that the tax on net interest income would be capped at
Google and Universal Music are in talks to license artists’ melodies and voices for songs generated by artificial intelligence as the music business tries to monetise one of its biggest threats. The discussions, confirmed by four people familiar with the matter, aim to strike a partnership for an industry that is grappling with the implications
Britain’s government has shown some welcome pragmatism on post-Brexit issues of late. Last week it ditched the requirement for most companies to use a “UKCA” quality assurance mark, allowing them to stick with the EU’s CE scheme. It further delayed introducing border controls on animal and plant products coming from the EU, too — again
The UK’s elections watchdog has suffered a “complex cyber attack” in which hackers obtained copies of the electoral register and had access to its systems for more than a year. The Electoral Commission said in a public notice on Tuesday that “hostile actors” first breached its network in August 2021, but that “suspicious activity” was
Windfall taxes are a blunt policy tool. They may fill government coffers in the short term. But they also hit investor confidence and future business prospects. That is doubly true when levies are big and haphazard. A surprise windfall tax on Italian banks is a prime example. A draft official text primes them for pain.
One of the oldest and most persistent ideas of the western enlightenment is the civilising force of free economic exchange. The belief that trade and political concord reinforce one another — at times called doux commerce or “gentle commerce” — goes back at least as far as Montesquieu’s writings 300 years ago. This belief motivated
John Rogers, Goldman Sachs’ chief of staff and one of the bank’s most influential executives is stepping back from his role. Rogers, 67, is handing over his responsibilities to Russell Horwitz, a former Goldman partner who left the group in 2020, the bank announced in a memo to staff on Tuesday. Rogers, dubbed the “board
Neither man has an alternative career in audiobook narration awaiting him upon retirement. Ron DeSantis speaks in a sort of monotone nag. Rishi Sunak can sound adenoidal. If you share my belief that people are defined as much by their voice as by their looks, it is a miracle these two have got as far
July was officially the hottest month ever recorded, surpassing the previous record set in 2019 by 0.3C, according to the European earth observation agency. Scientists at the agency said the average global temperature in July was about 1.5C warmer than that of the pre-industrial period of 1850 to 1900, before human-induced climate change began to
Country Garden, China’s biggest private developer by sales, has missed interest payments on two international bonds as it battles to stave off a liquidity crisis that has derailed the country’s real estate sector and dragged on economic growth. The $500mn bonds, which are due in February 2026 and August 2030, and were already trading at
Italy’s rightwing coalition has surprised markets by announcing a 40 per cent “windfall” tax on bank profits generated by higher interest rates, sending shares in the country’s lenders tumbling. Shares in Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit, the country’s two largest banks, dropped 8 per cent and 6.5 per cent respectively on Tuesday morning after Italy announced