Author: Lily Harper

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the UK financial regulation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The UK car finance mis-selling scandal will cost banks £8.2bn, the financial regulator has said, a lower-than-expected figure that is still on track to become one of the industry’s biggest compensation schemes.The Financial Conduct Authority previously estimated that the total cost of compensation could range from £9bn to £18bn. It said last month that most people were likely to receive less than £950 for each agreement.The scandal stems from commissions paid by lenders to motor dealerships as part of millions of…

One of the three deals Bain Capital has ever completed in Osaka, Japan’s third largest city, took a number of years to get over the line.The takeover of drugstore chain Kirindo had all the hallmarks of a classic Japanese private equity transaction, and included negotiating with the 96-year-old founder.“Of course, there is a problem with succession, with a lot of companies coming out of the drugstore business . . . so we have been suggesting that we can help both the succession and the growth strategy,” says Makoto Ono, private equity managing director in Japan for Bain. “But it took us about seven years.”The…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldSaudi real estate developer Dar Global has unveiled plans to build a $1bn Trump Plaza project in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, as US President Donald Trump’s family business expands its footprint in the Gulf.The project will include offices, premium residences, serviced apartments and town houses, and is part of a larger scheme called the “Manhattan” master plan that will also feature a Central Park-inspired park, the company said.The plans follow Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia and its…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.UBS has agreed to pay €835mn in fines and damages to settle a long-running French tax evasion case that involved its bankers using “James Bond”-like tactics, a fraction of the original €4.5bn penalty. The Swiss bank said on Tuesday that it would pay a fine of €730mn and €105mn in civil damages to the French state after the lender was found guilty of helping rich clients evade paying tax between 2004 and 2012. The settlement represents less than a fifth of the…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Climate change myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Donald Trump’s administration is pressuring the World Bank to fund more fossil fuel projects, including drilling for new gas, as part of a broader backlash against efforts to tackle climate change. The US president, who has promised to unleash American fossil fuels and has railed against green energy, has torn up many of former president Joe Biden’s green energy and climate policies since returning to the White House.His administration is now targeting the financing of energy in developing countries, according to five development…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing is set to be named as a defendant in London legal proceedings brought by five former employees seeking hundreds of millions of pounds in damages, according to people familiar with the matter.The case is expected to be filed in the coming weeks against Sewing, former Deutsche executives, and the bank itself, the people added.It is likely to contend that Sewing presided over a flawed internal audit that contributed to the convictions of the five ex-employees by…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Franklin Templeton is predicting a slowdown in consolidation in the investment management industry as traditional asset managers with slumping public valuations struggle to acquire faster-growing but more highly valued private capital rivals. Jenny Johnson, chief executive of the $1.6tn in assets investment group, said a growing gap in valuations was making large mergers harder to pull off.“I think it’s hard for anybody who hasn’t made their move already because traditional asset managers don’t trade at particularly rich multiples,” she told the Financial…

Earlier this year, a Tokyo-based compliance officer was ready to call it quits. A job at an asset manager entering the country had fallen through after two months of painful negotiation.Within two weeks, however, he was swamped with offers from a hedge fund, a cryptocurrency outfit and another investment firm offering base salaries of close to ¥30mn ($204,000). He was 69 years old.The compliance officer’s experience underlines both the frenzy of interest Tokyo is attracting from global financial institutions, which could finally transform it into one of the world’s pre-eminent financial capitals — and the stumbling blocks that remain. Japan…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Almost everyone needs to borrow money at some point in their lives — it could be to buy a car or house, to pay for education or to cover an unexpected expense. This might seem scary — after all, borrowing sometimes has a bad reputation. “Neither a borrower nor a lender be,” is a famous line from Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. And some religions object to the practice of charging interest on borrowed money.Mastering MoneyThis article is part of Mastering Money, an FT…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Where do you go for advice about how to manage your money? For a lot of people social media might be the first stop — it’s quick, it’s convenient and it’s available whenever you want it. And there is some good information there. Worthwhile posts from creators who know what they are talking about. Mastering MoneyThis article is part of Mastering Money, an FT Schools report for students and teens on how to make good financial decisions. Other articles cover budgeting, investing,…