Author: Lily Harper

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.UBS has proposed capping the size of its investment bank as it seeks a compromise with Swiss regulators who are considering increasing the bank’s capital requirements after its takeover of Credit Suisse. The lender has suggested to lawmakers that it could permanently limit the size of the division to reduce risk, according to a person familiar with the matter. The investment bank already has a self-imposed limit of 25 per cent of UBS’s risk-weighted assets. The proposal comes as UBS seeks to…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Dragging out bad news rarely makes it better. The same applies to China’s slow-motion property-market crisis. Housing developer Sunac this week said it would try to restructure its debts for the second time in 18 months. Nearly five years since Beijing tried to rein in overstretched builders, the sector’s debt doom loop is edging only slowly towards resolution. Sunac, whose portfolio includes everything from grand neo-mansions to indoor ski slopes, said on Tuesday that it would rejig its overseas liabilities based on “actual…

This article is an on-site version of our Moral Money newsletter. Premium subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered three times a week. Standard subscribers can upgrade to Premium here, or explore all FT newsletters.Visit our Moral Money hub for all the latest ESG news, opinion and analysis from around the FT You can’t please all the people all the time. That old adage is uncomfortably relevant for some top asset managers, who’ve been trying to craft sustainability policies to please clients ranging from oil-loving Texan officials to green-hearted Scandinavian pension managers. This balancing act is looking…

Institutional investors are increasing volatility in the corporate bond market by aggressively trading exchange traded funds, according to analysis from the IMF.This heightened volatility is particularly stark at times of market stress, when instability is most likely to bleed into real-world effects for corporate borrowers and the investors in their debt.The research feeds into a mounting debate among academics and researchers on the impact of ETFs on financial markets. The debate has become ever more urgent especially as ETFs have ballooned to $15tn in assets, a fivefold increase in a decade and far ahead of the $4.5tn held in hedge…

One thing to start: Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting Jenner & Block, a law firm with ties to a former prosecutor who investigated allegations of collusion between Russia and his first presidential campaign, in the government’s latest broadside against the legal industry.And another thing: Delaware is set to adopt sweeping changes to its governance laws making it more hospitable to billionaire-led companies as it faces growing competition from other states for corporate domiciles.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…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldFidelity Investments is planning to launch its own stablecoin, deepening the $5tn asset manager’s push into digital assets as the US prepares its first regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.The Boston-based fund firm is in the advanced stages of testing its token, which is designed to act as cash in cryptocurrency markets and will be managed through its digital assets arm, according to two people with knowledge of the plans.Fidelity’s launch is part of its expansion into the nascent market for tokenised…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.PwC has delayed payouts to recently retired partners in Hong Kong and mainland China as it navigates the financial fallout from its role auditing failed Chinese property developer Evergrande.Several equity partners who retired in recent months have yet to be repaid any of the capital they contributed when they joined the partnership, said four people with knowledge of the matter.The Big Four firm has in the past repaid partners about half of the sum within months of retiring, with the rest following…

In his 16 years in charge of Singapore’s biggest bank, DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta has had to steer through technological disruption, the aftermath of the global financial crisis and the overhaul of a stodgy institution.But as Gupta — one of the few global bank heads whose tenure can rival Jamie Dimon’s two decades at JPMorgan — finally steps down, he says life will be no easier for his successor.Donald Trump’s tariff wars threaten to disrupt DBS’s mainly Asian client base. Falling interest rates threaten to undermine profits at the bank, which generated an 18 per cent return on equity…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Standard Chartered has failed in its attempt to narrow the scope of a £1.5bn lawsuit over claims that its breaches of sanctions against Iran were more widespread than it has acknowledged.The High Court in London on Tuesday ruled against the Asia-focused bank, which was trying to slash the value of the lawsuit by blocking hundreds of funds from taking part.A central issue was whether investors who had not read statements issued by the bank that were alleged to be misleading would be…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Globalisation in its current form “may have now run its course”, according to HSBC chair Sir Mark Tucker, who said trade and geopolitical tensions would lead to stronger economic ties between regional groups and trade blocs.In a speech at the bank’s Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Tucker said trade tensions created uncertainty that posed a “serious potential risk to global growth”.Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has slapped tariffs on key trading partners, including China, Canada…