Author: Lily Harper

In France’s rural areas, one veteran Parisian dealmaker notes, politicians are grappling with shortages of doctors so acute they are termed “medical deserts”. Paris faces a different problem, he observes. “We have an overpopulation of bankers.” The French capital is among the most competitive marketplaces for dealmakers in the world, where the prestige houses of Lazard and Rothschild & Co with their centuries-old pedigrees vie against the institutional heft of Wall Street’s biggest banks and their domestic French counterparts.But in recent years, a new breed of competitor has swept into the city: American boutiques with a narrower focus on mergers…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldPrivate credit lenders have found a new batch of clients: US government contractors short-changed by Elon Musk’s cost-cutting drive and trying to stay afloat. Legalist, a private capital lender based in San Francisco, told the Financial Times that its “government receivables” business had extended more than $100mn in financing to dozens of contractors since the start of 2025, more than doubling the strategy’s previous total book of business. The group is looking to raise $250mn from investors to extend more…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Chinese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Chinese investors are driving a sharp rally in mainland bank stocks listed in Hong Kong, as they hunt for alternatives to the near-record low yields offered by government debt.The Hong Kong shares of China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have risen 36 per cent, 33.7 per cent and 25.4 per cent respectively over the past six months, beating the Hang Seng index as mainland Chinese investors pour record amounts of money into…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The author is vice-chair at Oliver Wyman and former global head of banks and diversified financials research at Morgan StanleyOnce the domain of pension funds, insurers and the uber-wealthy, private credit is undergoing a quiet transformation. Product innovation and technological advances are rapidly opening the door to a new class of investor: individuals who are affluent but not in the top-tier of the ultra-rich. One blended fund that invests in public and private assets now has a minimum investment of just $1,000.The…

Two big weekend scoops: In case you missed it, over the weekend the FT published two explosive stories on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the controversial aid project that’s been blighted by the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians.The stories show how Boston Consulting Group’s involvement in the project went far beyond what the strategy firm had publicly described. It’s the latest in a litany of scandals that have beset some of the world’s most elite management consultancies.Staff from Tony Blair’s non-profit also took part in a project with BCG to develop postwar plans for the enclave, sharing ideas that included a…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Private equity myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The biggest US private equity firms have abandoned a controversial practice of hiring promising graduates about to start work at investment banks for roles due to begin years later. No large buyout firm has launched its “on-cycle” recruitment process during the traditional June window since JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon said last month that the bank would terminate junior analysts accepting future-dated jobs. The decision to halt on-cycle recruiting came after several firms had already started pre-screening “coffee chat” sessions with students…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.UBS has made about 100 “goodwill payments” to Swiss customers after complaints about losses on foreign exchange derivatives that blew up in the wake of Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs, as it seeks to draw a line under the episode at a time of heightened regulatory scrutiny. The Swiss bank set up an internal task force to examine the complaints after some of its clients suffered heavy losses when the US dollar fell sharply following Trump’s announcement of blanket tariffs on April…

One of the biggest mistakes that a collector can make when deciding to donate art is to assume that their favourite museum will want it. “Collectors often think, ‘I live in Chicago, so I want to give this to the Art Institute of Chicago,’ but 99 per cent of the time they’re going to say no,” says Michael Darling, co-founder of Museum Exchange.Founded in 2020, Museum Exchange is the first — and only — matchmaking platform for aspiring art donors and US and Canadian museums; it aims to avoid these rejections.Instead of offering artworks to museums directly, would-be donors list…

This article is an on-site version of the India Business Briefing newsletter. To receive it in your inbox regularly, sign up if you’re a premium subscriber, or upgrade your subscription here.Good morning. Donald Trump has extended his deadline for reciprocal tariffs on trading partners from tomorrow to August 1. India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal has been busy managing expectations these past few days, saying a deal should not be made under pressure at the expense of national interests. It is clear that the two countries are still struggling to agree on agricultural products. After our previous update on the deal, many…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Jane Street plans to contest a finding by India’s financial regulator that the Wall Street trading firm engaged in “an intentional, well planned, and sinister scheme” to manipulate the country’s markets. On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India banned the US trading firm from dealing securities in the country, alleging that it had systematically manipulated Indian bank stocks to trigger huge payouts on related derivatives. SEBI also ordered Jane Street to return more than $550mn of “illegal gains”. In a memo sent…