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This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe\/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here<\/p>\n
Good morning, happy Friday and welcome back. In today\u2019s newsletter:<\/p>\n
Jan Marsalek\u2019s missing millions<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
HSBC shuts \u2018International Manager\u2019 programme<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Donald Trump proposes Donbas \u2018free economic zone\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
FT names Jensen Huang as Person of the Year<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
We begin with a Financial Times investigation that sheds light on former Wirecard executive Jan Marsalek\u2019s activities in north Africa and the fraudster\u2019s shadow life as a Russian agent of influence.<\/p>\n
Missing millions:<\/strong> In the five years since Wirecard\u2019s collapse, two central questions about Marsalek\u2019s role have remained a mystery: where did the money he stole end up and how might it have been used to further Russia\u2019s interests?<\/p>\n An investigation by the FT and German broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk sheds light on one small but geopolitically important tranche of his missing millions. <\/p>\n Secret Libyan empire:<\/strong> The FT investigation also delves into the shadow battle for control of assets among Marsalek\u2019s former business partners, which has been held in check until now by their desire to keep their ties to him as quiet as possible. Sam Jones and Paul Murphy have more.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what else we\u2019re keeping tabs on today and this weekend:<\/p>\n Economic data:<\/strong> The UK releases its October GDP estimate, while Germany publishes November inflation data.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n EU:<\/strong> Finance ministers meet in Brussels.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Chile:<\/strong> The country holds a presidential election run-off between Jos\u00e9 Antonio Kast and Jeannette Jara on Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n How well did you keep up with the news this week? <\/em>Take our quiz<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> Exclusive: HSBC has axed its \u201cInternational Manager\u201d programme<\/strong>, a prestigious fast-track management scheme set up to develop the next generation of bank executives. The move to close the programme to new recruits is the latest cost-cutting effort at Europe\u2019s largest lender.\t<\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> The EU is set to propose special privileges for a \u201cMade in Europe\u201d<\/strong> small car class, which will benefit from preferential parking, lighter rules and more generous subsidy arrangements to keep out Chinese competition and ease pressure on the bloc\u2019s auto industry.<\/p>\n 3.<\/strong> US President Donald Trump was pushing Ukraine<\/strong> to withdraw its troops from the Donbas region to create a \u201cfree economic zone\u201d in the parts of eastern Ukraine held by Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday. Read the latest on the peace talks.<\/p>\n 4.<\/strong> The pension scheme for<\/strong> British MPs has less than 3 per cent<\/strong> of its equity portfolio invested in UK shares, far lower than private-sector peers, prompting claims that it is making \u201ca mockery\u201d of efforts by chancellor Rachel Reeves to encourage investment in the London stock market.\u00a0<\/p>\n 5.<\/strong> Exclusive: Apollo has moved a fast-growing unit<\/strong> focused on complex lending out of its prized buyout division, in the latest sign of a shift towards private credit and away from a business that made it a $900bn behemoth. Read more on the shake-up.<\/p>\n Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has been the driving force behind a massive artificial intelligence boom that has the capacity to reshape the global economy. <\/p>\n Nigeria VIP protection<\/strong>: Amid a security crisis, President Bola Tinubu has ordered police officers who escort elites to be moved to frontline duty to fight Islamists and gangs.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Why Maga hates Europe:<\/strong> Trump\u2019s attacks on US allies are part of his campaign to dismantle pillars of liberal power.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n New gold?: <\/strong>The surge in silver prices has not occurred alongside an equity or bond market collapse. Gillian Tett looks at why.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Ask an Expert: Has there been a \u201cvibe shift\u201d in politics and culture since Trump\u2019s return to the White House? <\/em>Join FT columnist Jemima Kelly<\/em> who will be answering readers\u2019 questions later today.<\/em><\/p>\n Italy has the least financially literate population among developed nations surveyed by the OECD.\u00a0Fewer than four in 10 Italians can correctly answer questions about inflation, compound interest and risk diversification.<\/p>\n A retrospective at New York\u2019s Museum of Modern Art shows how Wifredo Lam found his personal style after a forced return to his native Cuba.<\/p>\n This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe\/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here Good morning, happy Friday and welcome back. In today\u2019s newsletter: Jan Marsalek\u2019s missing millions HSBC shuts \u2018International Manager\u2019 programme Donald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[20557,7475,20558,693,100],"class_list":{"0":"post-37012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-firstft","9":"tag-jan","10":"tag-marsaleks","11":"tag-millions","12":"tag-missing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Five more top stories<\/h3>\n
FT Person of the Year: Jensen Huang<\/h3>\n
We\u2019re also reading\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009<\/h3>\n
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Chart of the day<\/h3>\n
Take a break from the news\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009<\/h3>\n