FirstFT: High Court judges invested in tax avoidance schemes

On the high of at the moment’s information, three Excessive Court docket judges invested in controversial tax avoidance schemes that have been challenged by HM Income & Customs, together with one choose who has dominated on tax avoidance instances, elevating questions in regards to the UK’s lax strategy to disclosure of judicial pursuits.

The investments by Justices Joanna Smith, Simon Bryan and Martin Griffiths have been first made a couple of decade in the past, earlier than their appointments to the Excessive Court docket, however within the instances of Bryan and Griffiths after they started their judicial careers.

Every has retained their pursuits within the schemes after taking their positions as Excessive Court docket judges, Firms Home data present.

Two different sitting Excessive Court docket judges made comparable investments in tax schemes which have since closed, certainly one of which was referred to as “extremely abusive” and “fully contrived” by a authorities minister.

The revelations increase questions in regards to the judgment of among the UK’s high authorized minds, in addition to the Excessive Court docket appointment course of and the absence of guidelines requiring UK judges to make formal disclosures about their monetary affairs, both publicly or privately.

Right here’s what else I’m holding tabs on at the moment:

Financial information: The EU publishes flash first-quarter gross home product and employment figures, whereas the UK has its month-to-month labour market report and the Zew Financial Sentiment survey is due in Germany.

European Central Financial institution: ECB supervisory board member Anneli Tuominen and Dominique Laboureix, chair of the Single Decision Board, communicate on the Iese Enterprise Faculty’s Madrid campus.

Cannes: The 76th iteration of the internationally famend movie pageant begins within the south of France.

Outcomes: Boohoo.com, Bouygues, Britvic, Imperial Manufacturers, Land Securities, Marston’s and Vodafone report.

5 extra high tales

1. The UK’s policing minister has pushed for elevated use of facial recognition know-how by legislation enforcement throughout the nation. Any such transfer by Chris Philp, who was appointed minister of state for crime, policing and hearth final October, is prone to be divisive, as critics argue the know-how is inaccurate and a few of its purposes unlawful.

2. Ford plans to cut back future investments in China, with the corporate’s chief govt telling the Monetary Instances there was “no assure” western carmakers might win in opposition to native electric-vehicle rivals. Ford will as an alternative use the market to assist it higher perceive battery know-how. Learn extra from Jim Farley’s interview with the FT.

3. The EU ought to crack down on India reselling Russian oil as refined fuels together with diesel into Europe, the bloc’s excessive consultant for international coverage mentioned. Josep Borrell instructed the FT that Brussels was conscious that Indian refiners have been shopping for giant volumes of Russian crude oil earlier than processing it into fuels on the market in Europe.

4. Norway’s $1.4tn oil fund will step up its use of shareholder proposals to ship messages on environmental, social and governance subjects to US firms. The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund filed shareholder proposals on local weather for the primary time this 12 months at 4 US firms and mentioned it thought-about the trial successful.

5. Document ranges of share buybacks are attracting complaints from outstanding traders involved that the observe is boosting govt bonuses however offering solely restricted advantages to shareholders. The world’s 1,200 greatest public firms collectively purchased again a document $1.3tn of their very own shares final 12 months, triple the extent of a decade in the past.

Information in-depth

As Europe’s central financial institution pushes forward with the event of an digital forex, conspiracy theories are swirling, with some fearing the state will use it to trace and management residents’ spending. Whereas many politicians hope a digital euro could be launched in as little as three years’ time, they’re struggling to speak convincing arguments for the mission, with opponents arguing it’s a resolution looking for an issue.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

Don’t miss this episode of the FT Expertise podcast to listen to chief economist Martin Wolf focus on how he constructed his profession.

Chart of the day

This 12 months the platinum market is predicted to chalk up its largest deficit since data started within the Seventies as provide falters in South Africa and China’s industrial enlargement powers forward. The deficit marks a stark reversal from bumper oversupply within the earlier two years when automobile manufacturing was hit by semiconductor shortages.

Take a break from the information

Since lockdown and “The Nice Slobification”, the sartorial blurring of house and work has continued, additional boosted by the broader casualisation of office-wear. If in case you have a “nostalgic hankering for a bifurcated wardrobe”, you aren’t alone, writes Emma Jacobs.

Further contributions by Emily Goldberg