Banks sold a record amount of ultra-safe mortgage-backed debt in the first half of the year, rushing to lock in a cheap source of funding during a turbulent period for the sector with lenders facing growing political pressure to offer chunkier interest rates to depositors. More than €175bn of so-called covered bonds were sold to
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When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strides into Nato’s annual summit in Vilnius on Wednesday, his country will have been fighting a full-scale war of survival against Russia for 503 days. As his battered troops continue to fight off a relentless invasion and attempt to claw back occupied territory in the country’s south and east, Zelenskyy
In what can only be described as an outrage, I have been cancelled by Coutts. I assume this is down to my unorthodox views and behaviour. Yes, I firmly believe that Selling Sunset is excellent TV despite pressure from the Succession-obsessed blob. Yes, I have been known to eat refried beans straight from the tin. Yes,
Back in the late 1990s, equity analysts were rock stars. Traders hung on their every televised prediction of just how high the latest dotcom stock would fly. Today, they are endangered. Two decades of scandals, complaints about overly rosy ratings and regulatory tinkering have taken their toll. Research budgets have shrunk, the number of analysts
Job opportunities scream from posters at an employment fair in central China’s Zhengzhou. “Join us for the future!” urges one advertising positions for graduates to sell electric vehicles. Others seek “courageous” candidates or “attractive females” to sell medical equipment. But many of the jobs require 70 hours of work a week and command salaries as
© AP The US and Germany are under intense pressure from other allies to show greater support for Ukraine’s eventual membership of Nato, just days before the military alliance’s leaders meet in Lithuania. Washington and Berlin have backed a form of words for the summit’s concluding statement that does not fully endorse a “pathway” to
The US and Germany are under intense pressure from other allies to show greater support for Ukraine’s eventual membership of Nato, just days before the military alliance’s leaders meet in Lithuania. Washington and Berlin have backed a form of words for the summit’s concluding statement that does not fully endorse a “pathway” to Nato membership,
US president Joe Biden said on Sunday that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet contained some of the “most extreme” members he had seen, accusing them of being “part of the problem” in the occupied West Bank. Asked on CNN if Netanyahu would be invited to the White House, Biden reiterated his long support for
The BBC has suspended a male member of staff after allegations about the personal conduct of a presenter pitched the national broadcaster into crisis. The BBC on Sunday confirmed that it has been investigating the allegations since May, with politicians piling pressure on the broadcaster to “get its house in order” given criticism of how
Moscow has accused Kyiv and Ankara of violating the terms of a high-profile prisoner exchange after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned home from a visit to Turkey with a group of Ukrainian commanders. The commanders had led the defence of the bombed-out city of Mariupol before they were forced to surrender last spring at the end
Labour has a huge lead in the opinion polls and seems likely to win the next general election. A big part of the reason is that the economic record of the UK under the Conservatives has been dismal. But can Labour turn this round? Some improvement is no doubt possible. But it is essential to
A flaw in Revolut’s payment system in the US allowed criminals to steal more than $20mn of its funds over several months last year before the company could close the loophole, according to multiple people with knowledge of the episode. The incident, which has not yet been disclosed publicly, is likely to add further pressure
France and Germany are leading a fightback against plans to allow large-scale commercial mining in the deep seas, warning that a China-supported push to harvest battery metals from the seabed could do lasting harm. Representatives of 168 member states of the International Seabed Authority will gather on Monday for a marathon, three-week negotiation on whether
Interest rates are rising, mortgage rates are multiplying, and in Britain at least, opinions are divided. Are mortgage holders suffering too much or not enough? Politicians worry about families squeezed by their repayments. The Bank of England, meanwhile, worries many homeowners are shielded by longer, fixed-term mortgages — so monetary policy cannot bring down inflation
US controls on investment into China would only target sensitive national security sectors, Janet Yellen has told her counterparts in Beijing during a four-day visit aimed at putting a “floor” under their turbulent relationship. Speaking at a news conference on the final day of her visit, which included meetings with Premier Li Qiang and her
The head of one of the largest pension schemes in the US says it is planning to cut back investments in equity markets, in the latest sign that rising interest rates have brought an end to the “Tina” era that drove the past decade of stock price gains. Steven Meier, chief investment officer for the
John Shaw had never heard of a “buyout” or Pension Insurance Corporation until 2021, when his entire pension savings, accrued over four decades at the can-maker Crown, were transferred to the insurer. Once he understood the details, he was reassured. “It was a big relief to be honest,” says the 71-year-old Shaw, a former health
Britain “discourages” the use of cluster bombs, Rishi Sunak said a day after Joe Biden agreed to supply the controversial munitions to Ukraine, in an indication that the transatlantic allies will not be acting together in the initiative. The British prime minister is expected to discuss the matter with Biden on Monday, when the pair
Janet Yellen says there is “ample room” for US and Chinese companies to boost trade and investment, despite security tensions, during a trip to Beijing aimed at easing friction between the two powers. Speaking at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing at the opening of her meeting with Chinese economic tsar He Lifeng on
The UK’s banking and finance lobby group is claiming that the social media sites of Facebook owner Meta are carrying more than half of digital payment scams suffered in Britain. UK Finance, which represents more than 300 financial companies, has written to Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, with data on the sources of payments fraud in
Angry protests over sewage pollution at beaches around England and Wales have until now been aimed at the UK’s privatised water companies. But the risk of a financial collapse at Thames Water, the largest and most indebted water monopoly, has placed regulator Ofwat more directly in the line of fire. Set up in 1989 to