Lawyers and conservative activists are warning of a wave of legal challenges to US companies’ diversity initiatives following the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative action in university admission programmes. Opponents of affirmative action fought for years in the courts to end its use in college admissions. Now that they have won that battle, thanks to
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Investment bankers’ advisory fees have plunged to the lowest level in almost a decade as the industry suffers from a wave of job cuts because of a prolonged slowdown in deal activity. Fees for completed mergers and acquisitions globally plummeted 35 per cent in the first half of the year to $12.8bn compared with 2022,
Glencore chief executive Gary Nagle struck out at European investors for placing ESG above financial returns as he defended a proposal by the Swiss commodity trader to list a spin-off of its coal business in New York. As part of its advances to take over Teck Resources, the London-listed mining group has proposed combining its
A plan to provide about twice the current number of training places for doctors and nurses in England by the end of the decade has been unveiled by the NHS, as it attempts to tackle a staffing crisis amid record waiting lists for treatment. Under the first long-term staffing strategy by the NHS for 20
The UK’s stubbornly high inflation has convinced senior policymakers at the European Central Bank to maintain their aggressive stance on raising interest rates to avoid being accused of failing to contain price pressures. Several members of the ECB’s rate-setting governing council told the Financial Times that recent criticism of the Bank of England over its
The turmoil at the top of Thames Water has left the UK government scrambling to prepare contingency plans in the event of the collapse of the heavily indebted utility. Less than 12 months ago, Thames Water published its own assessment of the long-term viability of its business. The conclusion: the company was in good financial
Thousands more UK earners will be dragged into higher income tax bands this year, as the government’s policy of “fiscal drag” squeezes households to raise money for the cash-strapped public purse. According to HM Revenue & Customs’ estimates published on Thursday, the number of additional rate taxpayers in the 2023-24 tax year will rise by
Buy, partner or build? That’s the perennial question when an important new technology comes along — and it’s the question just about every company in the tech industry is grappling with when it comes to generative artificial intelligence. This week, the focus has swung to acquisition. Databricks, a private company that stores and manages large
Two centuries ago, the notion of the “Hegelian dialectic” emerged in western philosophy as an attempt to explain the development of ideas in history. The German philosopher GWF Hegel posited that any new idea (or “thesis”) sparks a reaction (the “antithesis”) as the historical pendulum swings, before yielding a “synthesis” in turn. America-watchers should ponder
German inflation was higher than forecast this month, even as Spain became the first major eurozone economy to beat the European Central Bank’s 2 per cent target in almost two years. The divergence between Germany’s 6.8 per cent rate for June and the 1.6 per cent recorded by Spain highlights the dilemma faced by the
The writer is an FT contributing editor and writes the Chartbook newsletter Half a century on, the return of inflation has stirred the 1970s ur-trauma. Last year, inflation hawks in Europe and the US were obsessing about the threat of wage-price spirals. As it turns out, inflation not only failed to accelerate but is now
Yorkshire Water has raised £500mn from shareholders, the latest sign of the UK’s debt-laden water companies racing to shore up their balance sheets. Yorkshire Water, which serves 2.3mn households and 130,000 businesses, said in a statement that the equity injection, which came this week, was “better than anticipated”. The fundraising is part of a plan
UK households withdrew a record amount from bank accounts last month, suggesting consumers are looking elsewhere for higher interest rates or tapping their savings to pay bills. A net £4.6bn was taken out from banks and building societies in May, the highest level of withdrawals since monthly records began in 1997, according to the Bank
Thames Water is poised to appoint Sir Adrian Montague, an experienced City troubleshooter, to step in as the new chair of Britain’s largest water company as it struggles to raise crucial funding. The group, which will publish its annual financial report next week, is expected to confirm within hours the appointment of Montague, who has
Several of Boris Johnson’s closest political allies have been censured for “contempts of parliament” and disparaging MPs investigating the partygate scandal, in a report by the House of Commons privileges committee published on Thursday. Seven Conservative MPs, including former cabinet ministers Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadine Dorries and Dame Priti Patel, were called out for “some
Top Russian army general Sergei Surovikin has been detained as the Kremlin cracks down on Wagner sympathisers following the militia’s failed mutiny last week. Surovikin, a senior Russian general known to have a good relationship with Wagner’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, has not been heard from for several days and has been detained, according to three
The writer is a former British diplomat who specialised in China. He is now a fellow of the Council on Geostrategy, the Royal United Services Institute and the Mercator Institute for China Studies Whatever Yevgeny Prigozhin was plotting in Russia last week — mutiny, insurrection, civil war — this level of military insurrection would never
In 1975, Rudi Carrell, a Dutchman who became a star of German television, had a hit with the song “Wann wird’s mal wieder richtig Sommer?” or “When will it really be summer again?” He longed for bygone heatwaves, “when you didn’t need the sauna/ when sheep were happy to be shorn”: A summer like in
European stocks made a cautious start on Thursday as an interest rate increase in Sweden reinforced the message from central bankers this week that global rates might need to rise further to curb inflation. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was flat while France’s Cac 40 gained 0.1 per cent. The FTSE 100 fell 0.2 per cent
It can’t be him, Kim Joo Kyung thought, as she took a seat on a crowded Seoul subway carriage. She stole glances through the swaying jungle of legs and bags and jackets at what looked like the same high cheekbones, cropped black hair, sharp shoulders, even the suit. The train screeched and jolted into a
The UK’s top financial regulator is pressing investment platforms including AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown and Halifax on their continued offering of funds from Odey Asset Management to retail investors, people familiar with the situation told the Financial Times. A string of funds have already been suspended in the fallout from sexual misconduct allegations against the