Immediately’s agenda: EU farm subsidy reform; Syrian asylum claims placed on maintain; FT Enterprise E-book of the 12 months; Christie’s dinosaur public sale; and the Gen Z stars redefining philanthropy

Good morning. We begin right this moment with an unique from Wall Road, the place the quantity of structured finance transactions has hit $380bn this yr, the most important growth for the reason that lead-up to the worldwide monetary disaster in 2007.

How a lot has it grown? The worldwide quantity of structured offers is up by greater than a fifth from the identical interval a yr in the past and about $1bn greater than all of 2021, the earlier post-financial disaster peak.

Transactions this yr have solid bonds backed by revenue tied to franchisee price income at US restaurant chain Wingstop, oil gross sales from ExxonMobil-backed wells and demand for computing energy and area supplied by information centre operator CloudHQ. Structured offers linked to extra arcane corners of the market have already risen 50 per cent this yr in contrast with all of 2023 to $63bn, in response to JPMorgan Chase.

What’s driving the surge? The growth in complicated — and sometimes riskier — offers highlights how buoyant markets and chronic US financial power are permitting bankers to promote extra esoteric merchandise to traders eager to lock in excessive mounted returns.

“We have now seen standout years with relentless investor urge for food and that’s what’s going on proper now,” stated Jay Steiner, who leads US asset-backed securities at Deutsche Financial institution. 

Whereas development in structured offers has made some traders nervous that funding managers flush with money aren’t vetting danger, analysts say the scale of the market continues to be sufficiently small to keep away from creating systemic danger. Learn the complete story.

Right here’s what else we’re preserving tabs on right this moment:

• Ecofin: EU finance ministers meet in Brussels, with UK chancellor Rachel Reeves additionally attending in an indication of the UK’s enhancing relations with the EU.

• Bitcoin Mena: The 2-day crypto convention begins in Abu Dhabi with audio system together with Eric Trump, Steve Witkoff and Anthony Scaramucci.

• Financial information: Germany experiences November inflation figures, whereas the UK publishes third-quarter mortgage lending statistics. 

• Nobel Day: This yr’s laureates obtain their Nobel Prizes in a ceremony in Stockholm.

• Outcomes: Ashtead, AutoZone, Moonpig and NCC report.

Immediately marks the launch of the FT’s India Enterprise Briefing publication, the Indian skilled’s must-read on enterprise and coverage on the earth’s fastest-growing giant financial system. Join right here should you’re a premium subscriber or improve your subscription right here.

5 extra prime tales

1. Unique: The EU’s new agriculture chief is pushing for extra beneficiant subsidies for low-income farmers fairly than massive agribusinesses, representing essentially the most important overhaul within the historical past of the 62-year-old programme that constitutes a 3rd of the bloc’s annual price range. Learn extra from Christophe Hansen’s interview with the Monetary Instances.

2. A rising variety of EU nations and the UK are pausing the processing of asylum claims from Syrians after the autumn of Bashar al-Assad’s authorities. Germany, the UK, Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Finland and Greece have put purposes on maintain, whereas France has stated it’s reviewing its coverage. Learn the complete report.

• Inside Assad’s police state: On the outskirts of Damascus, the Saydnaya jail holds the secrets and techniques to the fates of 1000’s who disappeared below the dictator’s rule.

• Opinion: The Syrian battle broke the world and is now proving to be Iran’s Achilles heel, writes Kim Ghattas.

• What to learn on Syria: Matthew Williams and Frederick Studemann advocate books that make clear the battle and its place within the wider energy struggles throughout the Center East.

3. Unique: Uber will maintain talks with UK union bosses right this moment over insurance coverage restrictions that many drivers say have pressured them into paying increased insurance coverage premiums. The restrictions, launched in January 2022, require drivers to get insurance coverage solely from a panel of eight insurers. Marianna Giusti has extra.

4. Unique: European regulators have requested Google for extra details about a secret promoting partnership with Meta that skirted the search firm’s personal guidelines on how minors ought to be handled on-line. Officers from the European Fee have been wanting right into a collection of advert campaigns, first reported by the FT in August, elevating the prospect of a formal investigation into the tech large.

5. Unique: AllianceBernstein is getting ready to sue Switzerland for $225mn over the choice to wipe out $17bn of debt when UBS took over Credit score Suisse final yr. The US asset supervisor would be the first giant institutional investor to hitch the case, which argues the deal was an illegal encroachment on traders’ property rights.

Be part of us tomorrow as Monetary Instances editor Roula Khalaf and different FT specialists focus on their predictions for the world in 2025. Register right here.

Information in-depth

Ukraine is racing to complete a number of traces of defence that might halt Russia’s swift advances, with the Dnipropetrovsk area spending $7.3mn on fortifications from November 2023 to November 2024, in response to a freedom of knowledge request. However efforts have up to now been marred by delays and lack of co-ordination, placing the world liable to a breach.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Enterprise E-book of 2024: Supremacy, Parmy Olson’s exploration of the rivalry between the founders of OpenAI and Google DeepMind, has gained the FT-Schroders award.

• Christie’s dinosaur public sale: Scientists have been priced out by billionaires within the international marketplace for fossils, writes John Gapper, as three prehistoric skeletons estimated to be price as much as £13mn go below the hammer.

• Javier Milei: The libertarian president has stabilised a turbulent financial system and saved the help of half the inhabitants, however massive challenges loom for Argentina.

Chart of the day

For the primary time, renewable vitality from wind, photo voltaic and hydropower is set to overhaul fossil fuels as the primary supply of the UK’s electrical energy output, marking a significant shift from a decade in the past, when fuel and coal accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the nation’s era, in response to think-tank Ember.

Take a break from the information

As a era of followers turns into more and more progressive, vital and globally minded, the most recent cohort of public figures can’t simply be ambassadors for his or her chosen causes; they should be philanthropic establishments in themselves, writes Marion Willingham. From actor Storm Reid to footballer Bukayo Saka, meet the Gen Z stars redefining trendy philanthropy.