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UK opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves have held a series of meetings with private equity bosses to discuss future investment from an industry they plan to hit with a £440mn tax raid.
The two Labour party leaders have been conducting a charm offensive with senior executives from investment firms including US-based Blackstone and Advent International and Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management, according to people familiar with the matter.
Starmer and Reeves have used the meetings to talk about the role they see private capital playing in boosting economic growth and financing the energy transition. Starmer said in a speech in November that private investment would be a “game-changer” for the UK economy.
But the UK’s main opposition party has also confirmed it will change the way dealmakers at buyout firms are taxed should it get into power. Two years ago, Reeves said she would end a loophole used by private equity executives to reduce the amount of tax they pay on their share of the profits, known as carried interest, or carry.
As earnings season picks up, here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:
Results: Alphabet, General Electric, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Santander, UBS, Verizon Communications and Visa are among those reporting. See our Week Ahead newsletter for the full list.
Joe Biden: The US president could announce his bid for a second term in office as early as today.
Markets closed: Australia and New Zealand observe Anzac Day, Italy celebrates Liberation Day and Israel commemorates Yom HaZikaron.
Five more top stories
1. The EU and Japan have pushed back against a US plan for G7 countries to ban nearly all exports to Russia and replace current sector-by-sector sanctions. The disagreement underscores the lack of additional options available to G7 leaders as they seek to increase the economic punishment for Vladimir Putin’s regime.
2. Retail investors are snapping up new US Treasury bills at a record pace as they broaden their search for higher-yielding alternatives to bank accounts with rock-bottom interest rates. Official data on the Treasury’s site shows $48.4bn of the debt auctioned by the US government was snapped up last month and demand continued apace this month.
3. EXCLUSIVE: The EU has plans to take control of medicine production during health crises through a compulsory licensing system as part of a sweeping reform of pharmaceutical rules. Read more on how the plan may draw the ire of drugmakers.
4. EXCLUSIVE: The European Payments Initiative is set to launch a more modest pilot scheme after agreeing to buy two fintech companies and focus on launching a digital wallet and instant payments system in Germany and France by the end of this year. Here’s why its ambitions have been scaled back.
5. The UK foreign secretary will call for a “robust and constructive” relationship with China today, facing down hawks in his ruling Conservative party in a set-piece policy speech. Read more from James Cleverly’s planned address in London.
The Big Read
European markets are parochial and shallow and still bear a strong whiff of the old economy dominated by banks and industrial companies. The US remains the undisputed home for listing and trading shares in the world’s most dynamic and fast-growing companies. Investors say the European dream to rival the US market remains distant and the path strewn with practical, political and cultural obstacles.
We’re also reading . . .
Labour laws: Before it makes up new rules, the UK should first catch up with other countries in enforcing existing ones, writes Sarah O’Connor.
Deep-sea mining: A UN-backed regulator is at the centre of a tussle over whether companies should be allowed to mine the Pacific Ocean’s depths for minerals key to the green energy transition.
Sudan conflict: The violence in Sudan threatens to destabilise neighbouring Chad, with tens of thousands of refugees already crossing the border.
Chart of the day
India is likely to have overtaken China as the world’s most populous country this month, the UN said yesterday. The exact timing of the long-awaited crossover has been the source of much speculation, with officials blaming a lack of accurate statistics.
Take a break from the news
Flowing 240km from clean mountain ranges and farming land before emptying into Port Phillip Bay in the heart of Melbourne, the Yarra river was long neglected before being cleaned up and newly appreciated this century. Wander into the city’s past before venturing into verdant terrain that takes in everything from kangaroos to kayaking via cake shops on these two routes.
Additional contributions by Gordon Smith and Emily Goldberg
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