Good morning and welcome to FirstFT. In immediately’s e-newsletter:
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How Citi’s head of banking was pressured out of JPMorgan
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Former FBI director James Comey charged with threatening Trump
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Asian chipmakers propel rising market shares to file excessive
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How AI is powering the subsequent technology of robotaxis
You may take heed to immediately’s high information tales with the FT News Briefing podcast.
We begin immediately with an unique story in regards to the man who has been main Citigroup’s turnaround in company, industrial and funding banking and is a number one contender to succeed Jane Fraser.
Vis Raghavan: Colleagues and former colleagues describe Vis Raghavan as “a really sensible man” and “very pushed” and somebody who might “impact change”. However others are much less complimentary, describing the banking chief’s potential to “explode” in conferences and his management fashion as “seize them by the balls”.
It was this aggressive method to administration that led to issues at Raghavan’s former employer JPMorgan, which he had helped make the most important funding financial institution in Europe. After Jamie Dimon restructured his high ranks in January 2024 Raghavan’s new bosses concluded his place was untenable and that he had no future at JPMorgan.
The change to Citi: That led to a weekend of manoeuvring that resulted in Raghavan touchdown a $52mn place at JPMorgan’s rival Citi as a part of a shake-up of that group’s high ranks that might be tasked with respiratory new life into the banking operations. Raghavan bypassed the official recruitment course of, led by Egon Zehnder, and was named head of banking in February 2024.
Since then he has shaken up the banking division’s management and poached dozens of bankers from throughout Wall Road, together with his former employer. Outcomes have improved at Citi’s funding banking division and its shares commerce near their highest ranges for the reason that monetary disaster. Learn extra on how Raghavan outmanoeuvred his bosses at JPMorgan and landed a high-profile Citi role.
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Extra banking information: Income at UBS jumped 80 per cent within the first quarter, as robust buying and selling and consumer exercise fuelled by market volatility from the warfare within the Center East lifted net profit to $3bn.
Right here’s what else we’re maintaining tabs on immediately:
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Financial coverage: The US Federal Reserve is anticipated to depart rates of interest unchanged. The choice might be adopted by what might be Jay Powell’s closing press convention as Fed chair. In case you have any questions on the way forward for the Fed underneath Kevin Warsh, Claire Jones, the FT’s US Economics Editor, might be answering questions in a particular version of FirstFT on the weekend. Electronic mail [email protected] or hit reply if you’re studying this in your inbox.
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Earnings: Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet and Amazon all report earnings after the market closes. Traders might be eager to listen to extra in regards to the Huge Tech teams’ AI capital spending plans and the rising rivalry with China.
5 extra high tales
1. King Charles urged the US and the UK to disregard home strain to “turn into ever extra inward-looking”, because the British monarch defended the transatlantic relationship in a speech to Congress that did not pull any punches on the second day of a four-day go to to the US to mark the 250th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence.
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Strained relationship: Flattery and pomp failed to hide the growing gap between the 2 nations.
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Diplomatic awkwardness: Britain’s ambassador to Washington stated that America’s solely “particular relationship” is “probably Israel”, in remarks that danger embarrassing King Charles throughout his US go to.
2. Goldman Sachs has stopped its bankers in Hong Kong from utilizing Anthropic’s AI fashions, within the newest signal of how the rising expertise is brushing up towards US-China tensions. Staff of the Wall Road financial institution within the Chinese language territory had been unable to entry Claude fashions both instantly or by way of the in-house synthetic intelligence platforms as of some weeks in the past, in response to 4 sources familiar with the situation.
3. Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin has questioned whether or not rich people perceive the dangers of investing in non-public credit score and warned that they could battle to entry their cash within the occasion of a downturn. Read more on the Citadel founder’s concerns.
4. Rising market shares have recovered all of their losses from the early phases of the Iran warfare to hit an all-time excessive, as a dizzying rally for a handful of Asian chipmaking giants highlights the tech sector’s growing sway over the asset class.
5. US federal prosecutors have charged James Comey with threatening the lifetime of Donald Trump within the second indictment towards the previous FBI director, who investigated the president’s alleged ties to Russia. The Division of Justice accused Comey of threatening the president when he final yr posted {a photograph} of seashells organized in a sample that learn “86 47”. Read more.
In the present day’s massive learn
When the United Arab Emirates stated on Tuesday it deliberate to depart Opec, threatening the worldwide cartel’s capacity to outlive, oil markets merely shrugged. The muted oil worth response is a mirrored image of the outsized significance of worldwide shortages arising from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. However additionally it is a symptom of Opec’s declining relevance to world oil markets. “That is the start of the tip of Opec,” stated one analyst for this piece on the way forward for the oil cartel.
We’re additionally studying and listening to . . .
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#MeToo aftermath: The ladies who spoke up about UK tech baron Lawrence Jones’s sexual abuse endured a criminal and legal process not designed for them, writes Madison Marriage.
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Commodities disruption: Trump’s assault on Iran has served as a reminder of how interconnected the global economy stays, writes Martin Wolf.
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Envoy exit: The performing US ambassador to Ukraine is leaving due to frustration over Trump’s lack of help for Kyiv, leaving a key diplomatic publish vacant whereas Russia prepares for a summer season offensive and peace talks stall.
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The Story of Cash 🎧: Hosts Robin Wigglesworth and Gillian Tett focus on how a truly transformative technology — railways within the nineteenth century and probably AI immediately — can nonetheless trigger a monetary crash.
Graphic of the day
Continental glaciers and the Greenland ice sheet would continue to shrink in coming years, scientists stated, after information confirmed Europe had warmed twice as quick as the worldwide common. This might go away individuals “throughout the planet” susceptible to flooding, with every 1cm in sea-level rise thought to show 6mn individuals to coastal flooding.
Take a break from the information . . .
Robotaxis have in recent times benefited from broader advances in synthetic intelligence, permitting autonomous autos to “generalise” their experiences to new cities and conditions — and even to foretell a pedestrian’s next steps.
