Author: Lily Harper

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.If water always finds a way, as the saying goes, then the same is true for financial ingenuity. A UK fund launched this week aims to generate returns for its pension fund backers from restoring natural resources and getting the companies who benefit to pay. There’s something to this idea, if it can navigate the problems that tend to vex green finance, such as fuzzy definitions and fears of dirty data. So-called nature positive finance — the preserving and restoring of nature…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Macquarie has agreed to inject up to £1.2bn of fresh equity into Southern Water as part of a deal that will result in the debt owed to its holding company lenders being cut by more than half. As part of the deal Macquarie, Southern’s owner, has committed to invest £655mn of equity initially into the utility — which provides water and sewerage services to 4.7mn customers in the south-east of England. The Australian investor intends to provide a minimum of £245mn in…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Foreign exchange myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Taiwan’s dollar jumped more than 2 per cent in volatile trading on Tuesday, as the country’s massive life insurance and export sectors rushed to contain the fallout from a weak US dollar.The New Taiwan dollar closed the day 2.5 per cent stronger against the US dollar, at NT$29.16, marking its biggest single-day gain since a rapid appreciation at the start of May that exposed Taiwanese life insurers to huge losses on their holdings of US assets.Taiwan’s life insurers hold $1.7tn in overseas…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK house prices myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.UK house prices unexpectedly plunged in June, according to Nationwide, undershooting forecasts and recording their largest monthly fall since January 2023.The average cost of a property dropped by 0.8 per cent between May and June to £271,619, following a revised 0.4 per cent increase in the previous month, according to the lender’s data published on Tuesday. The annual growth rate fell to 2.1 per cent, down from 3.5 per cent in the previous month.Both figures were below expectations as economists polled…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The writer is a partner at law firm Maurice Turnor GardnerThe inexorable rise in prominence of the family office during my professional life has tested the world of the private client lawyer. The evolution of the family office from a few individuals working in the principal’s business to a fully fledged standalone enterprise reflects the increasing complexity of the lives of successful families. But where does the lawyer sit these days? And how do they avoid falling victim to family office machinations?Unlimited…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Liquidators who are trying to recoup billions of dollars siphoned initially from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund are seeking more than $2.7bn from Standard Chartered, in a lawsuit filed against the UK-headquartered bank over its alleged role in the scandal.The suit, filed in Singapore on Monday, represents the latest attempt to recover money taken from 1MDB as part of a decade-long hunt that has involved several of the world’s largest banks.The case against StanChart relates to the billions of dollars that were laundered…

One scoop to start: Nearly four in 10 UK takeovers were reported in the media before their announcement in the 14 months to May this year, triggering concerns at the financial regulator that the London stock market is becoming leakier.Welcome to Due Diligence, your briefing on dealmaking, private equity and corporate finance. This article is an on-site version of the newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every Tuesday to Friday. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here, or explore all FT newsletters. Get in touch with us anytime: Due.Diligence@ft.comIn today’s newsletter:Why hedge funds love…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Asset managers made a “huge mistake” in claiming the investment industry could “save the world”, the departing chair of the UK’s Aberdeen Group said, over-egging their role in environment, social and government issues for marketing purposes. Sir Douglas Flint, a former HSBC chair, told a City of London conference this week that their “ridiculously extravagant claims” had opened up asset managers to legal risk. The most grandiose claims by financiers were driven by a mindset of “we’re not really about investing money, we’re just…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Nearly four in 10 UK takeovers were reported in the media before their announcement in the 14 months to May this year, triggering concerns at the financial regulator that the London stock market is becoming leakier.The Financial Conduct Authority has issued warnings to bankers about the leaks, which have come alongside an increase in the amount of unusual trading activity shortly before the announcement of British corporate takeovers.The release of the data in response to a Financial Times freedom of information request…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK financial regulation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Millions of British savers will be able to access “targeted support” under sweeping new rules to help individuals get better returns on their money, as companies including Hargreaves Lansdown and Vanguard gear up to offer such services.Unveiling one of the biggest shake-ups of investment advice for a decade, the Financial Conduct Authority said it would allow companies to make generic suggestions to consumers without having to meet all the costly restrictions involved in providing personalised financial advice.The move, which the FCA…