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Financial Times

From hostile takeovers to C-suite intrigue, Behind the Money takes you inside the business and financial stories of the moment with reporting from Financial Times journalists around the world. 
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Behind the Money

The Royal Bank of Scotland was once the biggest bank in the world. Then, hubris got the best of it. During the financial crisis the UK government spent £46bn to bail out the bank. Seventeen years and a rebrand to NatWest Group later, the government just sold its last shares in it and officially ended the country’s “bailout era”. The FT’s Akila Quinio analyses what this means for the economy and for NatWest. 

Clips from ABC News, BBC, NBC 

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For further reading:

The RBS story: how the world’s biggest bank was nationalised and then reborn

NatWest’s freedom dividend has already been cashed

NatWest must not forget its chequered past

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Follow Akila Quinio on X (@akilazoe). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The end of the UK’s ‘bailout era’

A decade ago, Indonesia produced only 6% of the world’s supply of refined nickel. Now, it has a de facto monopoly on the market. How did it happen? The FT’s Jakarta correspondent A. Anantha Lakshmi and FT’s commodities correspondent Camilla Hodgson examine what propelled this explosive growth and how China helped it happen. 

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For further reading:

‘The Opec of nickel’: Indonesia’s control of a critical metal

‘Production first, safety later’: inside the world’s largest nickel site

Western miner Eramet sees no profits in nickel processing without Chinese partners

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Follow A. Anantha Lakshmi and Camilla Hodgson on X (@AnanthalakshmiA) (@CamillaHodgson). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Indonesia cornered the nickel market

In a special six-part series of The Economics Show, Martin Wolf, the FT’s chief economics commentator, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman discuss the economic events reshaping the world in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s election. 

Subscribe and listen to this series on The Economics Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Episodes will also be available on the FT’s YouTube channel.

If you’d like to get in touch and ask Martin and Paul a question, please email economics.show@ft.com 

Read Martin’s FT column here

Subscribe to Paul’s substack here

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Coming soon: The Wolf-Krugman Exchange

Blackstone, Apollo and KKR. Although they have similar origins, these three top private capital groups are moving in different directions amid tumultuous markets. What do these approaches look like? And will they hold up in a potential downturn? The FT’s Antoine Gara, US private equity and deals editor, breaks down each approach and who’s most likely to perform best in the future.

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For further reading:

How Blackstone and its biggest rivals are drifting apart 

Should ordinary US retirement accounts be investing in private assets?

Private equity industry shrinks for the first time in decades 

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Follow Antoine Gara on X (@AntoineGara), or on Bluesky (@antoinegara.bsky.social‬). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Blackstone, KKR and Apollo are moving in different directions

This week, Swamp Notes goes to London for a live recording. Katie Martin, host of the Unhedged podcast, and Chris Giles, author of the FT’s Central Banks newsletter, discuss what Trump’s next few months might be like. Have markets truly recovered from the “liberation day” shock? What happens after the 90-day tariff pause is over? Our guests weigh in. 

Subscribe to the new Swamp Notes feed here.

Mentioned in this podcast:

Read the latest Chris Giles on Central Banks column here

Listen to the Unhedged podcast here

Sign up for the FT’s Swamp Notes newsletter here

Swamp Notes is produced by Katya Kumkova. Topher Forhecz is the acting co-head of audio. Special thanks to Mischa Frankl-Duval and Pierre Nicholson.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Swamp Notes: Trump’s next 100 days

Ireland has become a major base for US pharma companies, including Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson. That’s bolstered the economies of individual towns and played a role in the country’s massive budget surplus. Now, US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats are bringing a dose of uncertainty. The FT’s Ireland correspondent Jude Webber traveled to the town where the world’s supply of Botox is produced to see what impact potential pharmaceutical tariffs might have on the country. 

Clips from WKYC, The Journal, Bloomberg

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For further reading:

Trump tariffs bring furrowed brows to Ireland’s Botox town

Trump’s tariffs threaten Ireland’s pharma fortune

Ireland’s luxury problem: what to do with its €8.6bn surplus

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Follow Jude Webber on X (@jude_webber), or on Bluesky (@judewebber.bsky.social). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Trump’s tariffs threaten Ireland’s pharma fortune

Massive conglomerates used to define corporate best practice. Think about a company like General Electric, known as “the everything company”. But today, there’s a new popular model: de-conglomeration. The FT’s former US energy reporter Amanda Chu examines whether this is working for a power business that GE spun off last year – or if it’s just another Wall Street fad. 

Clips from BBC, Bloomberg, DW 

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For further reading:

Rustbelt gamble: GE Vernova rides AI power boom into uncertain future

Is the US power grid ready to meet the demands of data centres?

Have America’s industrial giants forgotten what they are for?

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Follow Amanda Chu on X (@amandalanchu). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

GE Vernova tries to shake its parent’s problems

A huge chunk of any typical bank’s profits comes from charging interest. But what happens when you can’t do that? This week, we’re traveling to Pakistan with the FT’s Humza Jilani, where the country has decided to make its entire banking sector align with Islamic law, which forbids charging interest. We’ll discuss how Islamic banks function and if this banking model can become Pakistan’s dominant system. 

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For further reading:

Meezan Bank’s soaring shares herald rise of Islamic finance in Pakistan

Clerics’ rule change threatens to throw Islamic debt market into turmoil

World Bank approves 10-year $20bn Pakistan lending package

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Follow Humza Jilani (@humza_jilani) and Saffeya Ahmed on X (@saffeya-ahmed), or follow Saffeya on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Islamic banking is taking off

Years ago, an ailing company like Walgreens Boots Alliance may have seemed like a prime acquisition target for deal-hungry private equity firms. But many have backed away from retail recently, leaving an opening for groups like Sycamore Partners who are willing to buck the trend. Sycamore announced this month that it would take the global pharmacy business private in a $23.7bn debt and equity deal. The FT’s Due Diligence reporter, Amelia Pollard, explains the well-worn playbook that Sycamore has used on past retail companies, and whether it will work this time with a chain that has its own share of unique problems. 

Clips from Bloomberg, CNBC, CBS

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For further reading:

Retail’s last barbarian: the private equity group about to play hardball with Boots

What went wrong after Walgreens bought Boots? 

Walgreens bondholders could be winners from its debt-laden buyout

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Follow Amelia Pollard (@ameliajpollard) on X or (@pollard.bsky.social) on Bluesky. Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. 

For more from Amelia and her team, sign up for the Due Diligence newsletter. 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Retail’s last barbarian takes on Walgreens Boots

The surging price of gold is leading to some unexpected outcomes. The FT’s Aanu Adeoye traveled to Ghana to see how this is playing out among two of the country’s top commodities: gold and cocoa. Aanu and the FT’s Susannah Savage explain how the two commodities are linked and how it is impacting the people who live in the country. 

Clips from NBC, ABC, CBS 

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For further reading:

How illegal gold mining is fuelling a chocolate shortage

Food groups develop a taste for cocoa alternatives

From London to New York via Switzerland: the booming trade in gold bars

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Follow Aanu Adeoye (@aanuadeoye) and Susannah Savage (@SavageSusannah) on X. Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How high gold prices are fueling a chocolate shortage

This week, Michela joins live from the FT’s Global Banking Summit in London. She sits down with three reporters and editors to analyse how the banking industry will shape up during Donald Trump’s second term in the White House. She’s joined by the FT’s US financial editor Brooke Masters and banking editor Ortenca Aliaj alongside Michael Klimes, investment banking and capital markets editor at The Banker. They discuss what banks stand to gain and lose, and what the industry may look like four years from now. 

The conversation was recorded on December 3 2024. 

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For further reading:

A Wall Street giddy over Trump should remember history

In Donald Trump, Wall Street will get what it wanted — and what it did not

Trump 2.0: winners, losers and Elon

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Michela recently joined Bluesky, follow her there: @mtindera.bsky.social, Her guests are also on Bluesky: Brooke Masters (@brookeamasters.bsky.social) and Ortenca Aliaj (@ortenca.bsky.social), or follow Michael Klimes reporting at FT’s The Banker (@thebanker.bsky.social) 

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What Trump’s presidency means for banking

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