Author: Lily Harper

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…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The biggest US banks have all passed the Federal Reserve’s annual tests of whether they can withstand a future economic and market crisis, opening the door for them to raise dividends and share buybacks.The Fed said on Friday that under its “severely adverse” scenario, in which unemployment surges to 10 per cent, the 22 banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, would lose more than $500bn. However, they would suffer a much smaller hit to capital than in recent…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Property sector myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.New non-dom rules led to a plunge in the number of deals in London’s prime housing market last month, as interest cooled from wealthy international buyers.There were 35.8 per cent fewer transactions in May for high-end properties compared with a year earlier and 33.5 per cent fewer than the pre-pandemic 2017-2019 average for the period, according to property firm LonRes. The number of under offer high-end properties — including the capital’s most expensive homes in Kensington, Knightsbridge and Belgravia — fell by…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the US financial regulation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.The US and Switzerland have ended a years-long stalemate over sharing information about client investments, a step that will allow Washington greater visibility into assets held in the European banking hub. The agreement comes amid regulatory examinations of at least eight Swiss companies that do business through a US-regulated entity, said three people with knowledge of the matter. The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s examinations, which included smaller managers as well as larger investment group Vontobel, involved some on-site inspections in…