Law

Sustainable fuel surge may mean fewer UK flights

24 Mar 2025

Britain wants airlines to ramp up use of sustainable aviation fuel at a faster pace than in the EU. That’s laudable, with the hard-to-decarbonise sector accounting for 2% of global emissions. But the margin hit for short-haul carriers like easyJet may risk them flying elsewhere.

Paul Weiss rewrites art of the deal under duress

21 Mar 2025

A US president vindictively targeting an eminent corporate law firm with $2.6 bln in revenue would typically run into resistance. Instead, Chair Brad Karp settled matters with a $40 mln promise. Clients fearing their own retribution will probably be more impressed than outraged.

US markets’ exceptionalism goes into reverse

20 Mar 2025

After years of setting the global pace, the S&P 500 Index has dropped 9% from its peak while Hong Kong and Europe benchmarks rise. In this week’s Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss whether trade wars and threats to the rule of law portend a durable shift.

Why financial warfare could backfire on the US

18 Mar 2025

Washington has sharpened the dollar and technology into powerful weapons. Now erstwhile allies fear they are targets. In this episode of The Big View podcast Edward Fishman, the author of ‘Chokepoints’, explains how economic interdependence is increasingly at odds with security.

Bank investors bet on car loan scandal airbags

13 Mar 2025

A court verdict on mis-sold motor loans could pave the way for large fines for lenders like Lloyds. Yet that would undermine chancellor Rachel Reeves’ growth agenda, and the regulator has ways to limit the damage. Current stock prices imply a dent rather than a pile-up.

EU banks’ M&A secret weapon nears sell-by date

3 Mar 2025

The ‘Danish Compromise’ lets Europe’s lenders buy insurers while shielding the capital hit. Yet Italy’s battle over $15 bln Banco BPM suggests the tool can also be hard to deploy. If financial groups fear regulators could withdraw the wheeze, maybe it’s no longer much use.

Trump reciprocal tariffs are key test of EU unity

19 Feb 2025

The president’s threat to match foreigners’ US levies may mean he targets individual European Union member states. The EU’s common approach to trade complicates retaliation. If some countries in the bloc stop others from fighting back, it could ramp up internal strife.

Europe and Trump risk Russian sanctions showdown

17 Feb 2025

The US president’s wish for a quick truce in Ukraine could prompt him to lift the measures slapped on Russia by Washington since 2014. The EU and UK would be loath to follow suit, but that would leave them in a tight spot, notably if it helps Putin rebuild his military.

Separation of powers is on trial in the US

14 Feb 2025

Federal judges have for now blocked White House bids to eliminate agencies and freeze $3 trln in funds, setting up a Supreme Court showdown. A bigger risk is that Donald Trump’s administration ignores adverse rulings, damaging government promises and the bedrock of open markets.

Trump’s graft leniency sets bad global example

13 Feb 2025

The US president has suspended the enforcement of a key anti-corruption law banning the bribing of foreign officials to obtain business contracts. Western countries with similar regulations will feel pressured to show similar tolerance. And law-based trade will take another hit.

Unsung rebels fend off US policy whiplash

30 Jan 2025

Legal authorities nationwide helped block the White House’s $3 trln funding freeze, a reminder of how federalism curbs power even if one party rules Washington. During Donald Trump’s first term, states won 83% of cases against him. It’s a valuable political, and economic, buffer.

Trump’s day-one flurry buries plenty

23 Jan 2025

The new US president began his term with a rush of orders signaling an immigration crackdown, shifting energy policy and more. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists debate how much will stick and why the trade barriers at the heart of his agenda are missing.

Big Booze speeds towards low-growth tobacco status

7 Jan 2025

The US surgeon general wants health warnings on alcohol bottles. Declining drinking rates have already shrunk the valuations of brewers like Carlsberg to 12 times forward earnings, nearing tobacco levels. Higher-rated spirits groups like $70 bln Diageo may have further to fall.

Warnings and worries haunt best-read views of 2024

31 Dec 2024

This year our readers fretted about imploding stocks, regulatory shocks and Washington’s new status quo, even as the S&P 500 Index hit record highs. Incoming President Donald Trump, Tesla boss Elon Musk, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Britain’s royal family all added to the drama.

Art of the 2025 deal will be postBidenism

30 Dec 2024

A new US president probably means laxer trustbusters, adding fuel to lower borrowing costs and corporate quests for growth. Exxon, Comcast, Rivian and Google are primed to dust off older M&A plans or craft new ones. Even the White House is positioned to orchestrate a merger.

AstraZeneca lacks good medicine for Chinese limbo

13 Dec 2024

Executives at the $205 bln drugmaker have been detained by Beijing, hitting its shares. One way for CEO Pascal Soriot to ringfence China risk from the rest of AstraZeneca might be to list or spin off the unit. Yet that might just highlight fresh reasons to mark down the stock.

South Korea curveball adds new 2025 risks

4 Dec 2024

Fallout from Great Power tensions tends to dominate the minds of political and financial leaders. So the abortive coup in the $2 trln economy may seem just a domestic issue. But ructions within the major US ally and chipmaking hub may yet reverberate in Asia and beyond.

Gautam Adani is promise and peril of Indian growth

28 Nov 2024

With $31 bln of debt, deep links to the banking system and a star role in India’s energy transition, the tycoon’s empire is a crucial part of the fifth-largest economy. In this week’s Viewsroom, Breakingviews columnists discuss how US bribery charges will test those dependencies.

UK mistakes City liberalisation for a growth plan

15 Nov 2024

Finance minister Rachel Reeves wants to unleash the 153-bln-pound financial sector to boost the economy. It’s not clear that her reforms so far, like a share-trading venue for private companies, will do that. Meatier deregulation, meanwhile, would raise the risk of future crises.

Shell’s legal win flags need for new green metrics

12 Nov 2024

A Dutch court has nixed a 2021 ruling forcing the $204 bln oil major to cut emissions by 45% by 2030. Such metrics had already been undermined by Big Oil asset sales, which don’t stop climate change. Drillers’ spending on low-carbon energy is a better gauge of green credentials.