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Good morning. We have an exclusive interview with the UK chancellor today in which he delivered an unusual broadside against the country’s top financial regulator.
Jeremy Hunt has warned the Financial Conduct Authority against its plan to “name and shame” companies, referring to the watchdog’s plan to publicly disclose the identities of groups under investigation more frequently and at a much earlier stage.
“I hope the FCA re-look at their decision,” the chancellor told the Financial Times, in a rare intervention by a chancellor on policymaking by the FCA, which is independent from the government of the day. It comes as Hunt tries to revitalise the UK’s capital markets, encourage investment and stimulate economic growth.
The FCA has said the plan would boost transparency and increase the deterrent effect of its probes. The regulator currently discloses investigations in “exceptional circumstances” but wants to move to a looser “public interest” test. A consultation closed yesterday.
Read the FT’s full interview with Hunt on the FCA’s proposal, which has sparked fury within the government and the City of London.
Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
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Economic data: S&P Global publishes its manufacturing purchasing managers’ index for the US, UK and Canada.
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EU: The bloc marks the 20th anniversary of its enlargement to 25 members. Experts say the 10 countries that joined two decades ago have been a clear success story for Europe, but they now need to find new sources of growth to avoid losing their competitive edge.
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US rate decision: The Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates as inflation is not easing as quickly as the central bank had hoped.
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May Day: Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot is set to speak at a traditional rally held by London’s unions. Markets are closed in several countries including France and Germany.
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Companies: AIG, Aston Martin Lagonda, eBay, Estee Lauder, GSK, Kraft Heinz, Marriott International, Mastercard, MGM Resorts International, Pfizer and Qualcomm have results. Smith & Nephew and Next have trading updates.
Five more top stories
1. Exclusive: Labour is set to unveil a weakened package of workers’ rights for the UK in the coming weeks, the FT has learnt. Sir Keir Starmer has billed his party’s package as the biggest increase in workers’ rights for decades, but behind the scenes shadow ministers have been discussing how to tone down some pledges to boost Labour’s pro-business credentials. Jim Pickard and Michael O’Dwyer have more details from London.
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UK local elections: Conservative candidates are distancing themselves from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his party’s brand in the run-up to polls in England and Wales this week.
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Inside Politics: In his most recent newsletter, Stephen Bush provides an hour-to-hour guide to what’s up for grabs in this week’s local elections. Sign up to get the latest analysis.
2. New York City police have arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters occupying a Columbia University building, marking the culmination of a stand-off that began more than a week ago. Police breached Hamilton Hall at night yesterday through a second-floor window, lined up dozens of students with tied wrists on Amsterdam Avenue to the south of the campus and prepared vans to take them away. The school has threatened to expel the students. We have the latest updates here.
3. Exclusive: Microsoft has agreed to back an estimated $10bn in renewable electricity projects to be developed by Brookfield Asset Management, in a deal that underscores the race to meet clean energy commitments while satisfying the voracious energy demand of cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Brookfield said the generation capacity was about eight times larger than the previous single biggest corporate renewable electricity purchase agreement. Here are more details on the deal.
4. Exclusive: Pfizer is developing an online platform for patients to order medicine including anti-Covid drug Paxlovid and a migraine nasal spray, according to people familiar with the matter. The website, expected to launch this year, will connect US customers with independent telehealth consultants to prescribe the medications, while a drug-dispensing partner will fill and ship the prescriptions. Here’s more on the latest push by drugmakers to cut out the industry middleman.
5. The UK sent its first failed asylum seeker to Rwanda under a voluntary relocation scheme on Monday, a case which officials were keen to present as a “proof of concept” for a separate enforced removal scheme. Earlier this year, the government started offering failed asylum seekers who could not be returned to their home country £3,000 to voluntarily relocate to Rwanda instead of remaining in the UK. Read the full story.
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More UK immigration: Deliveroo, Just Eat Takeaway and Uber Eats have agreed to conduct direct checks on all UK riders’ immigration status after coming under pressure from ministers to tackle illegal working and exploitation in the sector.
Deep dive
The death of vice-chair Charlie Munger has intensified questions over the future of a Berkshire Hathaway without Warren Buffett. When the 93-year-old eventually steps down, management of the company’s $354bn stock portfolio is expected to be transferred to Ted Weschler, who was hired after twice paying millions of dollars at charity auctions for lunch with Buffett in 2010 and 2011, and Todd Combs, who was recruited in 2010 after he cold-called Munger. In the first of a series on Berkshire, the FT sets out to address the big question confronting shareholders: will Weschler and Combs be able to fill the big shoes left by the Oracle of Omaha?
We’re also reading . . .
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OpenAI’s Sora: The FT asked executives in advertising, animation and real estate to test videos generated by Sora against other artificial intelligence models. Here are the results.
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HSBC: The unexpected exit of chief executive Noel Quinn has left employees “blindsided” and set off speculation about his decision to give up the top job at Europe’s largest bank.
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War in Ukraine: Russia is intensifying its efforts to seize Chasiv Yar, a crucial stronghold in eastern Ukraine, as Kyiv admits the frontline situation “has worsened”.
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Chinese economy: Despite pressure to find a new growth model, President Xi Jinping seems reluctant to boost consumption by his citizens. Our Big Read explores why.
Chart of the day
The cocoa market is coming under strain as traders grapple with a massive shortage of beans and the soaring cost of securing long-term supply contracts in the market. Prices in the most active futures contracts in New York and London for delivery later this month plunged more than 25 per cent in the last two days, before rebounding sharply, as the world’s growers and buyers of cocoa struggle to manage a supply shortfall.
Take a break from the news
In a rare interview, Matthieu Blazy reflects on his time at Bottega Veneta, the Italian fashion house that has come to define quiet luxury. The creative director still eschews loud branding and lets the considerable craft of his clothes and accessories do the talking.
Additional contributions by Benjamin Wilhelm and Gordon Smith