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Donald Trump’s legal team has pushed back against the US government’s drive for a “speedy trial” over this week’s historic charges that the former president conspired to subvert the 2020 election. In comments that signalled Trump’s desire to slow proceedings — possibly until after next year’s presidential contest — John Lauro, one of his lawyers,

UK house prices have dropped by the largest amount in 14 years, according to fresh data from Nationwide. Prices for July fell 0.2 per cent on the previous month and 3.8 per cent on the same month last year, the largest fall since 2009, the Nationwide house price index showed. The average cost of a home in the UK is now

UK mortgage approvals rose unexpectedly in June, despite further increases in interest rates. Bank of England statistics showed net mortgage approvals for house purchases rose to 54,700 from 51,100 the previous month, while approvals for remortgaging rose to 39,100 from 34,100. Analysts had expected the housing market to slow in a month when stubbornly high

The volume of trade between the Russian rouble and the largest dollar-pegged crypto token surged during the attempted insurrection by the Wagner Group earlier this month, as Russians rushed to find an alternative to the country’s weakening currency. The militia group’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin cast doubt on Vladimir Putin’s grip on Russia by attempting the

Economists and analysts are increasingly hopeful that the Federal Reserve can avoid pushing the US into a recession, as inflation slows and strong growth persists despite 11 interest rate increases. The Fed this week raised rates by another quarter percentage point to the highest level in 22 years. But a flurry of upbeat data has

A group of companies including the UK coach and train service company Mobico has held detailed talks over launching a cross-Channel train service to rival Eurostar. Other parties involved in the discussions include the Spanish Cosmen industrialist family, which is an investor in Mobico, formerly known as National Express, according to two people with knowledge

Coutts chief executive Peter Flavel has stepped down, saying that he bore “ultimate” responsibility for the bank’s treatment of former UK Independence party leader Nigel Farage. The private bank and its owner, NatWest, have been engulfed in a crisis since Farage revealed last week that Coutts had closed his account in part because of his

NatWest shareholders have ramped up pressure on chair Sir Howard Davies to step down for mishandling the fallout from the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account. “He’s clearly not in charge,” said a top-20 investor on Tuesday. “Banking is about trust and confidence. That’s sacrosanct and starts with the tone from the top.” NatWest chief

China has announced the replacement of foreign minister Qin Gang, one month after the former high-flying favourite of President Xi Jinping disappeared from public view. Qin’s sudden disappearance came as the government was trying to restore dialogue with Washington and conduct a charm offensive with European nations after several years of increasingly tense relations. The

UK economic activity slowed sharply in July as rising interest rates hit consumer spending and a manufacturing downturn deepened, a closely watched survey has shown. The flash UK PMI services output index, a measure of activity in the sector, fell to a six-month low of 51.3, according to new data released on Monday. Meanwhile the

UK banks have handed more of the benefits of interest rate rises to savers than their counterparts in Europe or the US, as politicians, regulators and clients push for a greater share of the haul. Global banks are coming under pressure to pass on the benefits of higher interest rates to their customers — but

The message of Thursday’s three UK by-elections was muddied somewhat by the Conservatives’ success in clinging on to the seat Boris Johnson vacated in outer London. But it was clear enough: this was a disastrous night for the Tories. Striking swings to Labour and the Liberal Democrats in northern and south-west England respectively confirm that

Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives have narrowly held on to the Uxbridge and South Ruislip seat in an unexpected UK parliamentary by-election result but were poised to lose two other seats in a night of political drama. Sunak’s ruling party retained the London seat vacated by former premier Boris Johnson by fewer than 500 votes, but the

One of the UK’s biggest offshore wind farm projects has been halted due to rising costs, a major blow to the UK government as it tries to encourage more investment in renewable power to meet net zero targets. Swedish energy group Vattenfall said it had halted development of its planned Norfolk Boreas wind farm after costs

Goldman Sachs has slumped to its lowest quarterly profit in three years, as a costly retreat from consumer banking deepened the pain of the industry-wide slowdown in deals and trading. Net income plunged by almost two-thirds to $1.1bn in the second quarter, down from $2.8bn a year earlier, Goldman said on Wednesday. The Wall Street

Thames Water’s biggest investor slashed the value of its stake last year, raising questions about how easy it will be for the indebted UK utility to persuade shareholders to inject much needed equity.  The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, one of Canada’s biggest public sector pension funds, owns a 31 per cent stake in Thames

Microsoft will next week face its first formal EU antitrust investigation in 15 years over claims the US tech giant is unfairly tying its video conferencing app Teams with its popular Office software. The push from the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, comes after Microsoft’s concessions to appease competition concerns proved insufficient, four people

Global companies are accelerating their push to decouple China data in response to the country’s increasingly stringent data and anti-espionage laws, as relations between Washington and Beijing deteriorate. The drive for full localisation of data in China and separation of information technology systems from the rest of the world is happening as Beijing strengthens its

Three of the largest US banks reported a surge in profits from charging more for loans, as the Federal Reserve’s series of interest rate rises fattened their bottom lines. JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo collectively earned $49bn in net interest income in the second quarter, the difference between what the banks pay for deposits

Rivals have poached at least 120 senior Credit Suisse investment bankers in recent months, reducing the need for big redundancy packages for UBS, which completed the takeover of its ailing Swiss neighbour in June. Deutsche Bank has hired about 40 former Credit Suisse bankers globally, while Jefferies has brought on at least 25 and Santander more