EY has been given more time to resolve issues exposed by an exam cheating scandal that landed it a $100mn fine last year, as it wrestles with the fallout from findings that it misled US regulators. The settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered an independent investigation into why the Big Four firm’s US
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Last September, the day after Uzbekistan stopped accepting bank cards that relied on Russia’s domestic card scheme Mir, middle-class Russians were already discussing how to circumvent the ban. “[Accounts] with cards can be opened in 3-5 days in [most] banks,” said a Telegram channel, touting how easy it is to travel to Uzbekistan, open an account
The majority of developing economies had less foreign exchange reserves at the end of 2022 than they did at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to fDi Markets analysis of central bank data from 75 countries collected via Haver Analytics. Import cover ratios — a standard comparable measure of foreign exchange reserves — fell
The writer is a former president of Colombia, a Nobel Peace Laureate and a member of The Elders, an NGO World Bank/IMF governors meeting in Washington this week have a historic opportunity to address the triple crises of climate, debt and poverty. They should restore trust in multilateralism by setting a high level of ambition
Rent collection by UK commercial landlords dipped in the first quarter of the year for the first time in two years in a worrying sign for investors who have looked to solid rents as one of the few bright spots in the outlook for the sector. Landlords collected 63 per cent of the rent due
Civil unrest has caused more than $10bn of insurance and reinsurance losses across the globe since 2015 compared with less than $1bn from terrorist attacks, spooking underwriters and fuelling a surge in the cost of cover. The figures are included in a report from insurance broker Howden that explores how “rising discontent”, driven by the
ByteDance raked in a record underlying profit last year, overtaking China’s long-reigning tech giants Tencent and Alibaba for the first time even as losses mounted for its fast-growing TikTok business unit. The world’s most valuable private company posted a 79 per cent surge in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, its preferred metric for
Will US inflation continue to slow? US inflation has slowed consistently over the past year, although declines have moderated in recent months as price pressures in sectors like shelter — which includes rents — have remained high. On Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its latest consumer price index report, which is forecast
Italian officials are racing to review a deal to sell the country’s largest refinery after the US government privately raised concerns about the sale of the Russian-owned site to a little-known fund in Cyprus. Russia’s Lukoil agreed in January to sell its Sicilian ISAB refinery to GOI Energy, a newly established branch of the Cypriot
US fund managers are increasing investments in international stock markets after rising interest rates and fears of an economic slowdown brought an end to more than a decade of domestic dominance. US stocks have vastly outperformed most other developed and emerging markets since the financial crisis, but the trend began to reverse last year. The
A federal judge in Texas has ordered the US Food and Drug Administration to withdraw its approval of a popular abortion pill in a move that, if upheld, would amount to a nationwide restriction on the drug. District judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ordered a preliminary injunction of the drug mifepristone, one of two drugs used to
Signs the US labour market is cooling have raised hopes that the worst inflation problem in decades is improving, but economists warn further action is still needed from the Federal Reserve to fully contain price pressures. Data released on Friday bolstered the view that the world’s largest economy, while still resilient, is gradually losing some
In theory, this is a perfect time for stockpickers. The rising tide of monetary easing after the financial crisis of 2008 lifted all boats. Setting aside even blow-ups as significant as the eurozone debt crisis, the following decade-and-a-bit provided a smooth descent in bond yields and a more than 300 per cent rise in global
As a historic price crash in crude brought turmoil to the global economy three years ago, Donald Trump led a broad effort by western countries to cajole Saudi Arabia and Russia to slash output and prop up the oil market. The Opec+ cuts that emerged spared the US shale sector from collapse. Trump praised Riyadh
The writer is an FT contributing editor Brace yourselves. It seems more likely than ever that Donald Trump will be the Republican party’s nominee for the presidency in next year’s election. But not because Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, just in time for Easter, has likened his arrest to that of Jesus Christ. The “base” was
The writer was chief British government negotiator in Northern Ireland from 1997-2007 Twenty-five years ago, the Good Friday Agreement was signed in Castle Buildings, a shabby government office on the Stormont estate in Northern Ireland, ending 30 years of civil war. More than 3,700 people lost their lives in the Troubles. Many hundreds are alive
US jobs growth slowed in March but not enough to deter the Federal Reserve from considering another interest rate increase as the central bank battles high inflation. The world’s largest economy added 236,000 positions last month, according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics published on Friday. This was a step down from
The auditors to the pro-independence Scottish National Party have resigned amid a police investigation into its finances, deepening questions about SNP governance as Scotland’s dominant political force reels from a highly divisive leadership contest. A person familiar with the situation said auditors Johnston Carmichael resigned before police on Wednesday arrested former SNP chief executive Peter
French president Emmanuel Macron rounded off his state visit to China on Friday by taking tea with counterpart Xi Jinping in Guangzhou, the manufacturing megacity at the heart of China’s export-led economy. The choice of Guangzhou, where Xi’s father was a senior official, conveyed a personal touch by the Chinese leader towards Macron. But it
The writer is editorial director and a columnist at Le Monde The mystery remains. None of the five European leaders who have visited Beijing since China ended its zero-Covid policy has managed to lift the cloud of ambiguity on Xi Jinping’s real intentions over Russia and Ukraine. Not even Emmanuel Macron, president of France, who
Labour was accused of “gutter politics” on Friday as it refused to retract an advertisement claiming Rishi Sunak opposed the imprisonment of adults convicted of sexual crimes against children. The Labour ad posted on Thursday on Twitter stated 4,500 people convicted of sexually assaulting someone under the age of 16 in England and Wales since