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The writer is an FT contributing editor In August at the Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, the chair of the Federal Reserve usually takes a walk. Someone at the Fed alerts the photographers at the wire services, and the chair steps out on to a terrace, accompanied by two or

Wagner fighters made a makeshift memorial for their founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in St Petersburg on Thursday as the Kremlin maintained its silence on the warlord’s apparent demise in a plane crash. Supporters of Prigozhin, who is listed among the passengers of a private jet that crashed north-west of Moscow on Wednesday, killing all aboard, mourned

Russia is offering to swap western investors’ stranded assets in the country for some Russian assets frozen by the west following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Under the proposal, Moscow would give interested western investors the opportunity to buy the assets of Russian companies that have been immobilised in Europe by using their own

Prospective investors in Arm’s initial public offering have raised concerns over the UK chip designer’s exposure to China, after the company warned of “significant risks” in the country. Managers at four separate funds considering an investment in Arm told the Financial Times that the prospectus for the planned listing on Nasdaq in September confirmed some

Goldman Sachs is exploring a sale of the investment advisory business it acquired four years ago, marking a further retreat from efforts to be a major bank to mass-market customers. The Wall Street firm said on Monday it was “currently evaluating alternatives” for its personal financial management business, which encompasses Goldman’s registered investment adviser operations

China is expected to make the biggest cuts this year to two of its core lending rates, as pressure mounts on policymakers and banks to reverse a trend of slowing momentum and revive flagging demand in the world’s second-biggest economy. The People’s Bank of China is set to announce reductions to both one-year and five-year

A group of Silicon Valley’s biggest private tech companies are dusting off long-delayed plans to list their shares, with the upcoming initial public offering of chip designer Arm set to provide a new gauge for market sentiment. Grocery delivery group Instacart, software company Databricks and identity verification start-up Socure are among those considered candidates to

China’s securities regulator has announced a package of market-friendly reforms to try to boost investment and trading after months of underwhelming economic growth that has hit stocks and bonds. The measures, which the China Securities Regulatory Commission said were designed to “boost capital market investor confidence”, indicate Beijing’s concern over the country’s economic and financial

Foreign investors have dumped Chinese stocks and bonds after losing confidence in Beijing’s promises of more help to shore up the country’s wobbling economy. Financial Times calculations based on data from Hong Kong’s Stock Connect trading scheme show that investors have almost completely reversed Rmb54bn ($7.4bn) in net purchases of Chinese equities that followed a

President Vladimir Putin is to discuss ramping up currency controls with Russian policymakers on Wednesday after an extraordinary 3.5 percentage point rate rise failed to halt the rouble’s slide, said two people familiar with the matter. Putin will hear proposals from Russia’s finance ministry to require exporters to convert some of their foreign currency earnings, most

UK wages grew much more than expected in the three months to June, according to official figures that are likely to reinforce policymakers’ concerns over the pressures fuelling inflation.  In April to June, annual growth in regular pay, which excludes bonuses, was 7.8 per cent, the highest regular annual growth rate since comparable records began

The rouble has fallen to a 16-month low against the dollar as a surge in Russian military spending and a collapse in export revenues add pressure to a currency suffering under western sanctions and an escalation of capital outflows.  Russia’s currency has lost about 25 per cent of its value this year and traded below

UBS is facing a further legal challenge to its controversial takeover of Credit Suisse, as hundreds of individual shareholders — including scores of former employees of the failed bank — are due to lodge a claim in Zurich’s commercial court on Monday. The Swiss Investor Protection Association (SASV), which represents retail investors, is planning to

Sam Bankman-Fried has been taken into custody after a federal judge found that the FTX founder probably attempted to tamper with witnesses on two occasions while awaiting trial on fraud charges stemming from the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. In a brief written order following a hearing in Manhattan federal court on Friday, Judge Lewis

Saudi Arabia is pushing the UK, Japan and Italy to allow it to become a full partner in the landmark next-generation fighter jet project that the three countries signed in December. The request, confirmed by five senior officials in London, Tokyo and Rome, has already created strains within the tri-national alliance. While the UK and

The Biden administration will ban US investment into quantum computing, advanced chips and artificial intelligence sectors in China, as it ratchets up efforts to ensure the Chinese military does not benefit from American technology and capital. President Joe Biden on Wednesday issued an executive order establishing the prohibitions, which will largely affect private equity and

Italy said late on Tuesday it would limit the impact of its planned windfall tax on banks to ensure financial stability, in an apparent partial backtrack after the surprise levy plan caused bank shares to drop sharply. The finance ministry said in a statement that the tax on net interest income would be capped at

China’s trade slumped in July, with exports and imports falling more sharply than economists forecast, adding to concerns about growth prospects in the world’s second-biggest economy more than six months after Beijing eased pandemic restrictions. Exports declined by 14.5 per cent year on year in dollar terms, official data showed on Tuesday, the steepest fall

Private equity firms are increasingly offering sweeteners such as fee discounts to secure backing from deep-pocketed investors, in a sign that the industry is facing its toughest-ever fundraising environment. Blue-chip firms including CVC Capital Partners, Ardian, TPG and Cinven have all in recent months offered investors either a discount on management fees or other incentives

Chinese authorities are putting pressure on prominent local economists to avoid discussing negative trends such as deflation, as concerns mount about Beijing’s ability to boost a flagging recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy. Multiple local brokerage analysts and researchers at leading universities as well as state-run think-tanks said they had been instructed by regulators, their