Author: Lily Harper

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Financial & markets regulation myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Hong Kong authorities are cracking down on how banks discuss block trades with hedge funds, after a criminal case against Segantii Capital Management and its founder Simon Sadler threw a spotlight on the practice. The Securities and Futures Commission, the territory’s financial watchdog, announced new guidelines on Thursday that cover so-called “market sounding”, a grey area in which banks discuss upcoming or potential block trades with hedge funds in order to gauge their interest in buying the stock. Block trades are…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Société Générale chief executive Slawomir Krupa has replaced his top executives just over a year after he launched a reset strategy at the French bank.Deputy chief executive Philippe Aymerich, chief financial officer Claire Dumas, and the head of French retail banking Marie-Christine Ducholet are all stepping down, the bank said on Thursday as it announced Krupa’s second top management reshuffle since being appointed a year and a half ago. Krupa will take over direct management of French retail banking, private banking and insurance as…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Activist investor Carl Icahn has suffered a new blow to his ailing financial empire as its largest investment runs into financial difficulties.Icahn’s publicly listed holding company has fallen more than 10 per cent this week after a small Midwestern refinery it owns suspended its dividend, cutting off one of the veteran investor’s crucial sources of cash. It has created another big setback for Icahn, 88, as he works to revive his corporate empire amid a decade-long run of investment losses and scrutiny…

One big deal to start: Siemens has agreed to buy simulation software company Altair for $10.6bn in an all-cash deal, marking one of the largest-ever acquisitions by the German industrial conglomerate.And an auditor quits: Shares in Super Micro Computer, which enjoyed a blistering rally off the back of the hype surrounding artificial intelligence, fell more than 30 per cent on Wednesday after the server maker said EY had resigned as its auditor.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…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Pensions myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Bringing pensions within inheritance tax from April 2027 will result in a “massive increase” on the tax bill for the estates of wealthy UK pensioners, according to pension experts. In the Budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that she would remove a “loophole” that left pension funds exempt from inheritance tax and increasingly allowed them to be used as intergenerational wealth transfer vehicles. The government estimates the move will raise £1.46bn a year by April 2030 and result in about 10,500 more estates paying inheritance…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Landlords have warned that changes to stamp duty on second homes, including buy-to-let properties, will hurt the supply of homes in the rental market. Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said that raising stamp duty on homes to rent “makes no sense” and warned the tax increase would contribute to a “net loss” of rental homes as fewer landlords bought into the sector. Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the increase in the surcharge on stamp duty levied on purchases of second homes…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Labour grandee Peter Mandelson and top US private equity boss Harvey Schwartz have left the board of the Bank of London, in the latest blow to the troubled fintech.Mandelson and Schwartz, chief executive of the Carlyle Group, were the two most senior figures on the board of the bank’s holding company. Their involvement had helped to lend credibility to the start-up as it raised funding and embarked on a hiring spree.The departure of the prominent political and finance figures is the latest…

One massive fundraise to start: Boeing has clinched one of the largest stock sales in history, raising $21.1bn as its new executive team races to shore up its balance sheet and avoid its credit rating being downgraded to junk.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:Riyadh’s big investment weekWhat happened…

My husband lost his job midway through our divorce and financial proceedings. We are living separately, but he has recently stopped paying maintenance, both for myself and our child. I have some savings but very limited earnings, having only recently returned to work after having children. I am worried not just about the interim financial situation and how we will meet our needs, but also about the longer-term financial picture. What should I do?Shaili Gohil-Desai, associate at law firm Burgess Mee Shaili Gohil-Desai, associate at law firm Burgess Mee, says that although your husband has lost his job, if this is temporary and…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Latest news on ETFsVisit our ETF Hub to find out more and to explore our in-depth data and comparison toolsBlackRock and DWS are among asset managers thought to be eyeing up the launch of equal-weight index mutual funds amid rising investor demand for ways to access the strategies outside the exchange traded fund format.Equal-weight mutual funds and ETFs track indices that include the same constituents as capitalisation weighted indices, but due to their equal weighting, they can provide an alternative for investors…