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BlackRock is launching a broad-based counterattack on a regulatory effort to limit the influence of large fund managers over US banks, saying it will drive up investor costs and “disrupt the flow of capital to the economy”.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has put forward a proposal that would require investors, including passive investment funds, to seek its approval when they take a stake of 10 per cent or more in a vastly expanded group of banks, including hundreds traditionally overseen by the US Federal Reserve or other regulators.
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At the same time, the FDIC has separately contacted BlackRock and Vanguard, the two largest index fund managers, to impose tighter restrictions on their behaviour as big investors in the group of smaller publicly traded banks that it already supervises.
“BlackRock strongly opposes the proposal, which would harm investors, disrupt the flow of capital to the economy, and undermine the efficacy” of the existing regulatory framework, the $11.5tn asset manager wrote in a public comment letter filed on Thursday.
The two-pronged oversight effort has industry executives talking privately about an FDIC “land grab” and warning publicly the new rules will make banks less attractive investments and could destabilise smaller regional lenders.
Politicians on both sides of the political aisle have raised concerns. Republicans worry money managers will push progressive social or environmental causes, while Democrats have raised antitrust concerns about big funds that hold large stakes in multiple competing companies.
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The FDIC has set an October 31 deadline for BlackRock and Vanguard to sign new “passivity agreements” that would require them to notify the agency every time they cross the 10 per cent threshold, put new limits on their contacts with bank executives and submit to independent reviews.
BlackRock’s letter said that process was premature. “The FDIC is applying [new restrictions] to certain firms as a fait accompli before reviewing comments on the proposal,” it said, adding the approach lacked transparency and “applies inconsistent standards across firms without a clear rationale”.
Because of its large index funds, BlackRock holds more than 10 per cent of the shares of 39 banks supervised by the FDIC and many more that would be affected by the proposed expansion. The money manager declined to comment beyond its letter.
Vanguard said: “We have engaged with policymakers, and suggested additional reforms that further clarify and refine expectations around passivity. We continue to work constructively with policymakers, including the FDIC.”
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The US Chamber of Commerce called the rule proposal “flawed and not supported by data”, while the Conference of State Bank Supervisors said it would lead to “duplicative reviews”.
The Investment Company Institute, a lobby group, warned the proposal was a “drastic and unwarranted departure” that would “impose significant costs and burdens on regulated funds and their investors”.
It also said the renegotiation efforts “introduce uncertainty and create needless barriers for funds seeking to make passive investments in banking organisations”.
The regulator defended its approach. “The FDIC has an interest when entities seek to directly or indirectly control FDIC-supervised institutions,” it said.
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The broader proposal’s fate may rest with the presidential election because the winner can shift the balance of power on the FDIC’s board.
But Jonathan McKernan, the Republican FDIC board member who has been vocal about his concerns about index fund power, said the effort to step up scrutiny of Vanguard and BlackRock should continue. “The two issues are distinct, even if perhaps topically related,” he said. “We shouldn’t wait to address an obvious gap in our monitoring framework.”
The European Commission (EC) has yet to formally approve the ITA Airways and Lufthansa merger.
The two airlines hope that, by sacrificing many of their valuable slots at Milan Linate, the EC will give the green light.
Milan Linate is a ‘close-in’ airport serving Italy’s main business centre. It’s as close, or closer, to the centre of Milan (depending on the area) as London City Airport is to London.
Under the terms of the slot ‘sacrifice’ at Linate Italy’s corriere.it reports that easyJet would gain no fewer than 30 daily slots (15 arrival and 15 departure slots) whereas Air France and British Airways would gain a total of 14 slots (ten for BA and four for Air France).
Stephen Bush (“The human race is suffering from success”, Opinion, October 22) observes that the human body is still built for hunter-gathering, whereas technology has moved us away from our “environment of evolutionary adaptedness”, providing us with abundant nourishment, while removing the need to burn all those calories.
Our prehistoric bodies require ample movement to prevent them from developing obesity, atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes and other “diseases of modernity”. The new weight-loss medication and more exercise may help, but a more durable approach would include more movement in our daily routines, eg by walking and cycling for our daily mobility.
The challenge is that the necessary investments need to come from the transport minister’s budget, but the benefits of reduced morbidity will be reaped by the budget of the health minister.
Henk Swarttouw President, European Cyclists’ Federation Domsten, Sweden
Whoever is the next president of the US, their urgent goal should be to regain control over US foreign policy (The Big Read, October 8).
As it stands, US foreign policy has been held hostage by the administration’s “ironclad commitment” doctrine towards Israel, which unfortunately means the de facto support of virtually any policy action the Israeli government takes, no matter what its nature (for example in relation to international law), and irrespective of the implications for how the US is perceived by the rest of the world, and irrespective of the implications for US involvement in a war clearly contrary to its own interests.
No country anywhere in the world should have such an “ironclad commitment” from the US government. No country anywhere should be able to do anything it feels appropriate for its own national interest and perpetually drag the US with it, no matter what the implications are for the US. I say that as a recently naturalised citizen of the US.
The current state of affairs is very damaging to the US, with implications both for American lives and for the legitimacy and effectiveness of the US as a world leader and guardian of the rules-based world order.
NATIONAL Graduate Week kicks off on Monday – and is the most popular time for employers to open applications for prestigious jobs for those fresh out of university.
With around 800,000 students leaving higher education annually, competition for top graduate roles is always fierce, but this year it is tougher than ever.
More than A MILLION applications were made for such jobs in the last 12 months — a record high — new figures from the Institute of Student Employers show.
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Employers get on average 140 applications per graduate job, 59 per cent up on the previous year.
The most sought-after roles, in digital and IT, attract 205 applications per vacancy, while the charity and public sectors are the least competitive with 74 and 85 applications per role respectively.
While some of the surge is due to hiring managers ditching the need for a minimum 2:1 degree, to make recruiting more inclusive, employment experts say soaring use of AI makes it faster for students to apply.
‘Opportunities growing’
ISE chief executive Stephen Isherwood said: “As AI makes it easier to apply for jobs, volumes are pushed up and quality goes down, creating more rejections.
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“While this marks a positive move from employers, encouraging applications from a broader pool of candidates, the downside is that it has amounted to millions of rejection messages to students in the last year.
“However, applicant volumes have always outstripped vacancy levels and overall opportunities are still growing despite the challenging economic environment.”
The average graduate salary is up two per cent on last year to £32,539, according to jobs platform Adzuna, while some schemes in law and finance can pay up to £60,000.
Here is our Sunemployment guide to the top six schemes to apply for.
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As one of the UK’s biggest employers of graduates, BAE SYSTEMS will hire 1,000 new starters.
Opening on November 21, there are 100 business and head office roles at BRITISH AIRWAYS including commercial, engineering, tech and analytics. See careers.ba.com/graduates-bps-and-interns.
AWE NUCLEAR SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES is seeking 124 graduates. Find out more at awe.co.uk/careers/early-careers
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DO US A FLAVOUR
LOOKING for a tasty new career? Food firms offer some of the most interesting roles and fastest career progression available anywhere.
PREMIER FOODS, which makes brands including Oxo and Mr Kipling, has up to 24 places available in marketing, sales, finance, procurement, IT and operations. HR Director David Wilkinson said: “It’s a great place to grow a career.”
Want to work on brands like Maltesers? MARS is hiring 30 grads across management, engineering, supply chain, procurement, finance and R&D. See bit.ly/4fbMzqK.
MDS trains managers for the food supply chain and there are 60 places. See mds-ltd.co.uk/.
How to beat the crowds
WITH a million applications for graduate roles, how can you make yours stand out from the rest?
Here STEPHEN ISHERWOOD, chief executive of the Institute of Student Employers, shares his expert advice . . .
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1. WORK IT: Treat your search for employment as a job in itself – spend more time on fewer applications, focusing on the positions you really want to land and are suited to.
2. SHOW THE REAL YOU: Relying too heavily on AI can lead to candidates coming across as less authentic to potential employers. Make sure your application genuinely reflects who you are and what you can do.
3. GAIN WORK SKILLS: The number of former interns landing jobs gets higher every year, but pretty much any work experience will boost your chance of success in the crowded jobs market.
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4. ADAPT TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES: Video chats and AI-led interviews are becoming more common, so be familiar with this approach – career services can help.
5. DON’T BE DISCOURAGED: Employers dealing with endless applications means there are more rejections. Avoid the trap of believing the jobs market is impossible.
Commitment to hiring graduates remains strong – the market isn’t shrinking and opportunities are still out there to be seized.
YOU’RE WORTH IT
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BEAUTY is big business – and top cosmetics company L’Oréal is searching for 23 graduates for its UK arm.
There are jobs available across commercial, supply chain, marketing and finance, based at the firm’s London HQ.
Emily Chiverton, HR Director L’Oréal UK & Ireland. Said: “We are looking for passionate people with ambition to build amazing careers at L’Oréal.
Our management trainee program is our talent accelerator to prepare the future of L’Oréal.
“It allows graduates to be trained and prepared for a future management role within the company by rotating between different disciplines for up to 18 months.”
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The chair of the world’s largest Spanish-language broadcaster Grupo Televisa stepped down on Thursday as the company faces a US investigation over activity related to Fifa football rights.
Televisa in August said it was being investigated by the US Department of Justice over its dealings with football’s governing body, Fifa, and that the outcome of the probe could have a material financial impact on the company.
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It said Emilio Azcárraga, 56, who first took the helm of Televisa in the 1990s and is one of Latin America’s most powerful business leaders, would step down with immediate effect.
Televisa, best known for producing telenovela soap operas, is the largest media company in Latin America and the biggest shareholder in US Spanish-language broadcaster Univision. In 2023 it paid $95mn to settle a shareholder lawsuit alleging it bribed Fifa officials to win rights to show World Cup matches.
Azcárraga, whose grandfather founded the company, was chief executive for two decades until 2017 and served as chair until Thursday. It was not clear whether he would return after the probe’s conclusion. The company said it was co-operating with the recently disclosed investigation.
Shares in Televisa have been falling since their peak in 2015 and hit an all-time low this year, as its cable and content businesses face greater competition.
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In its third-quarter results published on Thursday, it said revenues at its cable and satellite businesses fell 4 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. Overall revenue fell 6.4 per cent to 15.36bn pesos ($775mn).
Mexico’s media companies are grappling with the shift to digital streaming and tougher competition for ad revenues. Televisa’s largest competitor in the country, broadcast group TV Azteca, is also facing a lawsuit over alleged non-payment to some of its international creditors.
The 2021 deal to combine Televisa with US broadcaster Univision was aimed at grabbing market share among Latino audiences, particularly in the US, where its Vix streaming service aims to compete with giants such as Netflix.
After the deal, Televisa spun off several assets into a new company run by Azcárraga, including Mexico’s largest football team Club América and the iconic Azteca Stadium, which is being renovated ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America.
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