A below-the-radar trip to Venezuela by Boris Johnson to meet autocratic president Nicolás Maduro was arranged by a hedge fund manager interested in normalising diplomatic relations between London and Caracas, according to people familiar with the matter. Former JPMorgan banker Maarten Petermann, co-founder of London-based Merlyn Advisors, organised the former UK prime minister’s visit by
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has ruled out calling a general election in May, dashing the hopes of opposition MPs who believed there could be a new UK government by the summer. Sunak told ITV news
The US has held secret talks with Iran this year in a bid to convince Tehran to use its influence over Yemen’s Houthi movement to end attacks on ships in the Red Sea, according to US and Iranian officials. The indirect negotiations, during which Washington also raised concerns about Iran’s expanding nuclear programme, took place
Stifel has hired Joseph Narens, who spent a decade at Citi, to oversee the firm’s institutional high-yield trading across the firm’s municipal securities business line. Narens joined Stifel Wednesday as managing director and head of High Yield Municipal Trading. Prior to joining Stifel, Narens spent 10 years at Citi, most recently as the head of
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The UK economy returned to growth in January helped by the expansion of the services sector, following a technical recession in the second half of 2023. Gross domestic product rose 0.2 per cent between December
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan has warned the Israeli government against “smashing into Rafah” as the Biden administration underlines its opposition to the planned assault on one of Gaza’s biggest cities. The US was