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If any Bank of England policymakers were wavering ahead of Thursday’s decision to raise interest rates for the 11th time in succession, the shock of February’s inflation data will have stiffened their resolve. The acceleration in consumer price inflation to 10.4 per cent, just as price pressures were expected to ease, made it all the

The UK’s parliament on Thursday became the latest public organisation to ban the Chinese-owned TikTok app from its devices and networks as concern mounted about the security implications of its use. The decision by the commissions that run both the House of Commons and the House of Lords comes just a week after the UK

It took just 72 hours for Swiss regulators to fast-track a $3.25bn rescue of Credit Suisse by its rival UBS. Now executives at the two banks face a painful few years as they integrate the businesses. Thousands of jobs will be lost, entire data systems transferred and tens of billions of dollars’ worth of assets

The writer is a former chief executive of Credit Suisse Like everyone else, I watched the events unfolding in Zurich in recent days with something akin to stunned disbelief. When I stepped down as the chief executive of Credit Suisse, it had just posted its highest profits for 10 years after a deep restructuring. And

The Bank of England has increased interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25 per cent, despite the turmoil that has engulfed banking in recent weeks. The rise, which was in line with economists’ forecasts, comes a day after data showed that the annual rate of inflation jumped from 10.1 per cent

China said it “firmly opposes” any forced sale of TikTok, denouncing Washington’s demand that the social media app cut ties with its home country ahead of a pivotal hearing in the US on Thursday. “Forcing the sale of TikTok will seriously damage the confidence of investors from all over the world, including from China, on

Junior doctors in England will walk out for 96 hours from April 11, the British Medical Association has announced, in a significant escalation of their battle for a 35 per cent pay rise. Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMA junior doctors committee, said that during talks this week health and

The writer is founder of Sifted, an FT-backed site about European start-ups This year, I have heard several visiting Americans berate Europe for its lack of innovation and entrepreneurial success, with some justification. Since the beginning of the century, Europe’s share of the top 100 most valuable companies in the world has fallen from 38

Switzerland has raised interest rates by half a percentage point, despite the financial turmoil that this week led to a rescue-takeover of one of the country’s largest lenders. The Swiss National Bank opted to plough ahead with its fourth consecutive interest rate rise, saying the chances of inflation becoming entrenched had risen. It follows a

European equities traded lower by lunchtime on Thursday and the dollar recovered some of its earlier losses, as central banks pressed on with their policies to raise interest rates in spite of investor nerves over the health of the banking sector. The region-wide Stoxx 600 fell 0.7 per cent, with Germany’s Dax 0.6 per cent

Israel’s parliament has passed a law limiting the circumstances in which a prime minister can be removed from office, signing into law the first in a series of contentious legal changes that have sparked months of protests. The amendment, passed after a rancorous all-night debate that stretched into the early hours of Thursday, intensifies the

Swiss financial regulator Finma has defended its decision to wipe out the value of risky additional tier 1 bonds as part of the Credit Suisse rescue deal. The move enraged some bondholders because Credit Suisse shareholders will receive a payout. In a statement on Thursday, Finma said the AT1s “contractually provide that they will be

At the annual gathering of Europe’s solar power lobby in Brussels this month, industry executives celebrated the rapid rollout of panels across the region after the retreat from Russian gas. Standing behind a DJ deck, Walburga Hemetsberger, SolarPower Europe’s chief executive, said that the night should be “the best party ever”, adding that the European

There’s a colossal shift going on in artificial intelligence — but it’s not the one some may think. While advanced language-generating systems and chatbots have dominated news headlines, private AI companies have quietly entrenched their power. Recent developments mean that a handful of individuals and corporations now control much of the resources and knowledge in

Much as it can be enjoyable to poke fun at the crypto bros — with their silly memes, irritating acronyms, puerile jokes and frankly ridiculous ideas about the world — I have to confess: I don’t believe they’re the main problem. As far as I’m concerned it’s the earnest, strait-laced types who insist that we

The US Securities and Exchange Commission charged Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun and three of his businesses for improperly registering digital assets and for alleged market manipulation. The agency also charged eight celebrities including actress Lindsay Lohan and social media personality Jake Paul for illegally touting Sun’s crypto assets, alleging they failed to disclose they

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday pressed ahead with its monetary tightening campaign despite the recent turmoil in the banking sector, raising its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point and signalling another increase to come. Following its latest two-day meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to lift the federal funds rate

The unexpected jump in UK inflation in February, coupled with turmoil in the global banking sector, leaves Bank of England rate setters facing an even tougher decision than usual on Thursday. The latest data, showing inflation at 10.4 per cent, has reinforced fears that price rises are increasingly being driven by domestic pressures in the

US distressed debt investors and corporate litigators are preparing to fight the Swiss government over its decision to write down $17bn of Credit Suisse bonds as part of the bank’s shotgun marriage with UBS. Switzerland provoked the ire of bond investors when the government used an emergency ordnance to write down the bonds to zero,

Angry investors are parking metaphorical tanks on Paradeplatz in Zurich’s financial district. Holders of $17bn in Credit Suisse AT1 bonds are squaring up for a legal fight with Switzerland. This promises to be as fierce as the scrap between Argentina and US hedge funds over a 2001 debt default. Swiss authorities wiped out $17bn of

British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is planning to offer more than £5bn including debt for England’s Manchester United football club, a record acquisition price for a sports team, according to two people briefed about the plan. Ratcliffe, the founder of the Ineos chemicals empire, is competing against Qatari Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani for the