Author: Lily Harper

Global central banks face a dilemma over whether to embrace stablecoins or promote alternatives to the new technology, as the US’s aggressive backing of privately issued tokens thrusts the fast-growing sector into the financial mainstream.This week, politicians in Washington are advancing legislation to ban the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital currency and provide a regulatory framework for privately issued stablecoins. For the Trump administration, such tokens, which are mostly backed by dollar assets, offer a vehicle to project the strength of the greenback globally. But the Bank for International Settlements, the umbrella body for central banks, last month warned…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Investment Banking myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Citigroup is stepping up its poaching of senior dealmakers from JPMorgan, signalling the ambitions of its new banking chief Viswas Raghavan after restrictions on hiring from his old bank recently expired. Citi hired Raghavan as head of banking in February 2024 to bolster its position in investment banking, taking him from JPMorgan, where he had led the dealmaking division.Raghavan has hired at least five senior bankers from JPMorgan as he begins to build out his team, including recruiting his former colleague Achintya…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Two years ago, it was hard to think of a Wall Street boss under more pressure than David Solomon. The Goldman Sachs chief was wrestling with an abundance of problems, from a failed attempt at consumer banking to a wave of real estate losses. Solomon’s DJ-ing hobby, lavish bonuses, unhappy juniors and private jet habit hadn’t helped.Yet for all the tribulations, Solomon has survived — and thrived. On Wednesday, Goldman reported a 12.8 per cent return on equity for the second quarter…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK government plans to overhaul regulation of the growing market for in-house insurance, cutting capital requirements for special entities set up by companies to protect themselves from business risks.Large companies have made increasing use of in-house or ‘captive’ insurers in recent years, setting up entities to cover risks ranging from lawsuits to cyber attacks rather than buying external cover, partly in response to rising insurance prices. But UK companies have been opting to set up captives in jurisdictions such as Bermuda,…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Apollo is in talks with Atlético Madrid about taking a stake in Spain’s third-biggest football club in a move that would mark a rare foray into sport for the Wall Street investment giant.The talks emerged out of Atlético’s hunt for investors to back an €800mn real estate project next to its stadium, according to one club official. The official said Apollo raised the alternative idea of taking a stake in Atlético Holdco, the company that controls the football club, during discussions over…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Profits at Goldman Sachs rose more than a fifth in the second quarter, as a surprise rally in investment banking added to a record period for the US bank’s equity traders. The Wall Street group comfortably beat estimates with net income of $3.7bn for the three months to the end of June, up from $3bn a year ago.Equities traders put in a record performance for the second quarter in a row, generating $4.3bn in revenues. The business was aided by big market moves following…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Morgan Stanley reported a 15 per cent increase in second-quarter profits, boosted by higher revenues at its flagship wealth management business and gains at its trading division. The bank on Wednesday reported net income of $3.5bn for the three months to the end of June, beating analyst estimates of $3.2bn. The Wall Street bank said its wealth management business, which has about $6tn in client assets, was boosted by “higher levels of client activity” during the quarter, with revenues at the division…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Bank of America notched up better than expected profits in the second quarter as the US lender expanded its deposit base and loan book and benefited from robust Wall Street trading activity. The group’s net income rose about 3 per cent to $7.1bn in the second quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $6.8bn. Revenues rose 4 per cent to $26.5bn, slightly missing forecasts of $26.7bn. Revenues at the retail bank rose 6 per cent to $10.8bn as the group grew its deposit base…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The boss of insurer Allianz has warned that Germany risks becoming the “sick man of Europe” and predicted its social security system could collapse within a decade unless the government cuts spending.At Allianz’s annual media briefing on Wednesday, Oliver Bäte said: “We’re back to where we were in 1997 . . . when Germany was called the sick man of Europe.” He added that while unemployment remained well below the 5mn mark of the time, the country faces mounting risks mainly from unsustainable growth in healthcare…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.It has been a trying few weeks for Britain’s chancellor Rachel Reeves. The UK government reversed over £6bn of her planned savings on welfare payments. A teary appearance in parliament then added to speculation about her job. Now she faces daunting questions over how she will balance the books ahead of the autumn Budget. Reeves did, however, manage to provide a brief but positive distraction on Tuesday night by unveiling a number of promising reforms to boost the UK’s financial sector at…