Month: January 2026

Indonesia’s top financial regulator quits in wake of market turmoil

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The heads of Indonesia’s financial regulator and stock exchange have resigned following two days of market turmoil that was sparked by warnings of a possible downgrade by index compiler MSCI. Mahendra Siregar, chair of the Financial Services Authority, and Iman Rachman, president-director of the Indonesia Stock Exchange, stepped down on Friday. Their resignations came after the country’s main stock index tumbled as much as 16 per cent in two days…

Indonesia’s stock exchange head quits after market turmoil

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The head of Indonesia’s stock exchange has resigned and the government has unveiled measures to improve liquidity after two days of market turmoil sparked by warnings of a possible downgrade from index compiler MSCI. Iman Rachman, president-director of the Indonesia Stock Exchange, will step down “as a form of accountability over the condition of the Indonesian capital market in the past few days”, the exchange said on Friday. Rachman told…

China investigates Sun Shaocheng, former Inner Mongolia party chief and veterans minister

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A former Communist Party chief of the resource-rich Inner Mongolia autonomous region, who was also China’s first veterans affairs minister, is under investigation amid the country’s continuing anti-corruption campaign. Sun Shaocheng, 65, is being investigated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for “suspected serious violations of discipline and law”, a euphemism for corruption, the top disciplinary body said on Thursday. Sun serves as vice-chairman of the Social Development Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, a semi-retirement position he was appointed to in October 2025 on…

China halts trading in 5 silver and oil funds to limit risk amid volatility

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China suspended trading of five commodity funds on Friday to curb investment mania in gold, silver and oil and reduce underlying risks amid geopolitical tensions. The only public fund investing in silver futures in mainland China, UBS SDIC Silver Futures Fund, a listed open-ended fund (LOF), will be suspended for the whole day on Friday, the second such halt since January 22. The trading halt also spread to oil LOFs, four of which were halted for an hour up to 10.30am on Friday. Before the halts, fund-management firms had issued…

The meaning of Xi’s military purge

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Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Chinese politics & policy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. The writer is a professor at Georgetown and Texas A&M universities and was Special Assistant to the President and senior director for east Asia at the National Security Council (2005-2009) Since Xi Jinping became president of the People’s Republic of China in 2013, many analysts have convinced themselves that he is omnipotent, his power and authority unchallenged. For such observers, the purging of China’s military leadership, including top…

How big a deal is the EU-India trade agreement? With Nicolas Köhler-Suzuki and Ajay Srivastava

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The EU-India trade deal was partly a geopolitical statement, directed towards Trump. But what’s actually in it? What were the toughest bits to agree, who gave up concessions, and what will the deal mean for the economies of India and the EU? Soumaya Keynes is back to chat to Nicolas Köhler-Suzuki, adviser for trade and economic security, Jacques Delors Institute, and Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative in Delhi, and a former trade negotiator. Subscribe to Soumaya’s show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen.…

Trump says ‘very dangerous’ for UK to do business with China, after Starmer hails progress in Beijing

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Donald Trump has warned the UK against doing business with China, just hours after Keir Starmer lauded the economic relationship during a landmark visit to Beijing. The US president said it was “very dangerous” for the UK to pursue closer ties with the rival superpower as the prime minister’s three-hour talks with leader Xi Jinping underlined a thaw in previously strained relations. Starmer, the first British prime minister to travel to Beijing in eight years, promised a “more sophisticated” relationship with China, as he secured improved market access, lower tariffs…

UK and China weigh cross-border asset-management scheme to deepen market ties

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The UK and mainland China are considering a new cross-border asset-management link and upgrades to their existing stock connect scheme, as both sides seek closer capital-market cooperation, according to Ashley Alder, chairman of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). “We are looking at enhancing market connectivity between China and the UK, particularly by building on the stock connect with Shanghai and Shenzhen,” Alder said. “In addition, we are exploring other areas of cooperation, such as asset management.” He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the SCMP in Hong…

In robot-aided surgery, it doesn’t matter where you are, Chinese military study finds

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Remote surgery conducted over thousands of kilometres can be just as reliable as robot-assisted operations done by a medical team in the same room as the patient, according to a new study led by Chinese military researchers and carried out in five cities. The researchers said telesurgery could be a “feasible” way to overcome the lack of medical services in parts of the country as well as the growing demand for operations to treat cancer. “As the first randomised controlled trial in the field of telesurgery, this study establishes that…

Panama court kicks Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison out of canal ports

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Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for free Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world Panama’s Supreme Court has annulled a contract held by a unit of a Hong Kong company to operate key ports at either end of the Panama Canal, in a victory for Donald Trump, who has vowed to reassert US influence in the region. In a unanimous ruling late on Thursday the court said the concession for a unit of CK Hutchison Holdings to operate the Balboa and Cristóbal…