Each time he landed a six-figure commission for his tiny Swiss bank, Paul-Michel von Merey was known to thunder through the open-plan office close to Lake Zurich, loudly ringing a cow bell in celebration. The regular clanging reflected a lucrative seam his firm was mining. MBaer Merchant Bank AG , which von Merey co-founded in 2018, would sometimes charge clients as much as ten times the going rat...
Each time he landed a six-figure commission for his tiny Swiss bank, Paul-Michel von Merey was known to thunder through the open-plan office close to Lake Zurich, loudly ringing a cow bell in celebration. The regular clanging reflected a lucrative seam his firm was mining. MBaer Merchant Bank AG , which von Merey co-founded in 2018, would sometimes charge clients as much as ten times the going rate to process payments, according to people familiar with the matter, in particular transactions that other banks wouldn’t handle. But even as the firm was named among the “most prosperous” Swiss private banks last year by a local wealth-management event, its end was near. The alleged facilitation of money laundering brought the Swiss minnow to the attention of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent , who on the eve of war with Iran late last month, effectively forced it to shut down. “MBaer has funneled over a hundred million dollars through the US financial system on behalf of illicit actors tied to Iran and Russia,” Bessent said in a statement . The threat to cut the bank off from the US financial system was enough to overcome legal challenges to the Swiss regulator Finma’s earlier order to liquidate the firm. The following is an account of how MBaer managed to operate under the radar, while, according to US officials, being in some cases “likely complicit in their clients’ money laundering activities.” Its ignominious end undermines Switzerland’s years-long efforts to clean up its financial system and prove that Zurich and Geneva no longer offer an easy haven for cash linked to crime. A spokesperson for MBaer declined to comment for this report. Finma also declined to comment. MBaer was founded as a merchant bank designed to serve both clients’ business interests — such as trade finance — and their private wealth. Its eponymous co-founder and the bank’s first chief executive officer, Mike Baer, had spent 12 years at Julius Baer Group Ltd , the bank established by his great-gra...
Dozens of former Israeli military, police and spy chiefs describe situation as ‘organised Jewish terrorism’ Middle East crisis – live updates Israel has not prosecuted its citizens for killing Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank since the start of this decade, , a Guardian analysis of legal data and public records show, creating impunity for a campaign of violence. Attacks have spurred...
Dozens of former Israeli military, police and spy chiefs describe situation as ‘organised Jewish terrorism’ Middle East crisis – live updates Israel has not prosecuted its citizens for killing Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank since the start of this decade, , a Guardian analysis of legal data and public records show, creating impunity for a campaign of violence. Attacks have spurred former prime minister Ehud Olmert to call for an intervention by the international criminal court (ICC), to “save the Palestinians and us [Israelis]” from state-backed settler violence, carried out with the complicity and sometimes participation of the police and military. Continue reading...
Kenneth Cheung/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction Back when I first covered Booking Holdings ( BKNG ), I highlighted how the recent pullback created an attractive opportunity backed by the company's strong leadership position, great financial health, and long-term tailwinds, despite macro uncertainty and fear. With the stock getting even more attractive as the market is pricing in eve...
Kenneth Cheung/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction Back when I first covered Booking Holdings ( BKNG ), I highlighted how the recent pullback created an attractive opportunity backed by the company's strong leadership position, great financial health, and long-term tailwinds, despite macro uncertainty and fear. With the stock getting even more attractive as the market is pricing in even more macro pressure and AI risk that seem to be overblown, I'm upgrading Booking to a Strong Buy, as the company stands to benefit significantly from AI integration, a potential travel recovery, their expansion beyond classic accommodation, and more. Strong Performance Continues Booking Holdings IR Although Booking reported an overall mixed Q4, missing the market's EPS estimates despite beating on revenue , they delivered a 16% YoY increase in revenue and a 17% increase in diluted EPS during the quarter, although marketing expenses jumped by 22%. During the whole year, they reported a more moderate 13% increase in revenue but a stronger 22% jump in EPS, backed by significant buybacks alongside their 17% profit growth, delivering margin improvements, room night growth, solid developments for Genius, and significant growth in alternative accommodations. Meanwhile, they also beat their cost savings target, delivering $250 million worth of savings compared to their $150 million initial commitment despite an increase in costs. As a note, since I know this has been a subject for discussion for a long time, the company also announced a 25-to-1 stock split effective on April 2, 2026, getting them to a price of the equivalent of $175.88 today, which should help them reach a broader amount of investors, particularly retail ones that may not have access to fractional shares - although the real effect on the stock or the company remains meaningless. Regarding the cash flow, adjusting it for stock-based compensation and deferred merchant bookings, as argued in the previous analysis, w...
Can you beat a traditional spiced yeast bun at Easter? There’s only one way to find out. Bring on the rhubarb and custard version, the red velvet, the chocolate and fudge, the tiramisu … Hot cross buns, the Easter treat traditionally eaten on Good Friday, now appear in our shops as early as January. And it’s not just the spiced ones packed with dried fruit that you’ll find on supermarket shelves: ...
Can you beat a traditional spiced yeast bun at Easter? There’s only one way to find out. Bring on the rhubarb and custard version, the red velvet, the chocolate and fudge, the tiramisu … Hot cross buns, the Easter treat traditionally eaten on Good Friday, now appear in our shops as early as January. And it’s not just the spiced ones packed with dried fruit that you’ll find on supermarket shelves: it seems that any enriched-dough creation can be described as a hot cross bun, so long as a flour cross has been slapped on top. Step into a Marks & Spencer food hall and you will be greeted with displays full of garish pink “red velvet” hot cross buns, while Tesco has more than 10 varieties available this year, as well as a tear-and-share brioche . Purists may turn up their noses, but Becca Stock, who reviews food on TikTok and Instagram as @beccaeatseverything , says that, to enjoy a non-traditional bun, you have to view it as a separate product. “For me, they sit in different categories,” she says. Continue reading...
Part autobiography, part industry satire, this hilarious show boasts dazzling dialogue and ace cameos. But surely Ahmed has better things to do than play James Bond? If I was Riz Ahmed, I would be very up myself too. In the two decades since his screen career began, the actor has won Oscars and Baftas; been cast in a Star Wars film and a Charli xcx video; inspired a metric for Muslim on-screen rep...
Part autobiography, part industry satire, this hilarious show boasts dazzling dialogue and ace cameos. But surely Ahmed has better things to do than play James Bond? If I was Riz Ahmed, I would be very up myself too. In the two decades since his screen career began, the actor has won Oscars and Baftas; been cast in a Star Wars film and a Charli xcx video; inspired a metric for Muslim on-screen representation (the Riz Test) and crafted a body of work comprising performances which are both individually excellent and collectively meaningful. He has done so by combining talent with an unusual willingness to engage with the wider context of what it means to be a brown British person on 21st-century planet Earth. I imagine a certain amount of ego is also necessary to power the whole enterprise. And if so, what of it? Continue reading...
I had to deal with energy shock in Germany after Putin invaded Ukraine. The solution now is the same: buy ourselves out of the fossil fuels trap Yes, there are big differences between the war of aggression that Russia has now been waging against Ukraine for four years and the war the US and Israel launched against Iran. The biggest difference: the US is still a democracy. Even a president who cons...
I had to deal with energy shock in Germany after Putin invaded Ukraine. The solution now is the same: buy ourselves out of the fossil fuels trap Yes, there are big differences between the war of aggression that Russia has now been waging against Ukraine for four years and the war the US and Israel launched against Iran. The biggest difference: the US is still a democracy. Even a president who considers himself all-powerful is not. From scathing press coverage to anger over high oil prices, fear of the midterm elections and – the capitalist form of democracy – falling stock prices, what people think makes a difference. That is why the US president is occasionally forced to change his mind. That is not the case in Russia. Vladimir Putin had a clear plan: Russia wanted to occupy the whole of Ukraine and turn it into a satellite state or annex its territory. Putin was preparing for this war for years, in my view; this included a cheap energy trap into which he successfully lured Germany through the construction of Nord Stream 2 and the purchase of gas storage facilities and refineries by Gazprom and Rosneft. Continue reading...
Arron Jones/iStock via Getty Images Fund performance Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund Institutional Class shares returned 1.60% for the three months ending December 31, 2025. The fund's benchmark, the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange (FTSE) One-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index, returned 1.02% for the same period. Market overview Bond investors were rewarded with positive returns acr...
Arron Jones/iStock via Getty Images Fund performance Columbia Mortgage Opportunities Fund Institutional Class shares returned 1.60% for the three months ending December 31, 2025. The fund's benchmark, the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange (FTSE) One-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index, returned 1.02% for the same period. Market overview Bond investors were rewarded with positive returns across the U.S. bond market during the fourth quarter. With indicators suggesting that economic growth was softening, the U.S. Federal Reserve continued to ease interest rates, with two additional 25-basis-point (bps) cuts at its October and December meetings, leaving the federal funds target rate in the 3.50% to 3.75% range. (A basis point is 1/100 of one percent.) The Fed also announced an end to its quantitative tightening program, under which it has reduced the size of its balance sheet by not reinvesting the proceeds from maturing bonds. The Fed cited a softening employment backdrop but also indicated caution with respect to additional rate cuts, given lingering inflation concerns. The Treasury yield curve steepened slightly over the quarter, while the 10-year Treasury yield finished essentially flat, moving from 4.16% to 4.18%. Against this backdrop, securitized assets outperformed, with mortgage-backed securities (MBS) continuing to benefit from lower interest-rate volatility and prepayment risk. The Bloomberg US MBS Index generated a 1.71% total return during the fourth quarter, supported by strong carry, reduced prepayment risk and positive technical signals. Demand improved from real-estate investment trusts (REITs) and government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), which got relief on the number of mortgages they could hold on to their balance sheets. This uptick in demand was coupled with continued low supply, given tough affordability metrics. Inventories continued to rise. Existing homes available for sale were up 15% year over year as home prices appreciated, albeit a...
Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) has surged more than 460% over the past five years. However, it hasn't come without stomach-churning volatility along the way. That's at least partly due to the company's tendency to find itself embroiled in controversy. Most recently, the U.S. Justice Department indicted three company employees, including one of the company's co-founders, on charges of conspiri...
Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ: SMCI) has surged more than 460% over the past five years. However, it hasn't come without stomach-churning volatility along the way. That's at least partly due to the company's tendency to find itself embroiled in controversy. Most recently, the U.S. Justice Department indicted three company employees, including one of the company's co-founders, on charges of conspiring to smuggle $2.5 billion in Nvidia GPU artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, in violation of the Export Control Reform Act. Sometimes, a short-term crisis can become a buying opportunity for long-term investors. Is this one of those moments? Here is what the evidence could be trying to tell you. Continue reading
The war in Iran is testing the dollar’s role as the currency for global oil trade, with one long-term consequence being a potential shift to using more Chinese yuan, according to Deutsche Bank . “The conflict could be the catalyst for erosion in petrodollar dominance and the beginnings of the petroyuan,” Mallika Sachdeva , a strategist at the German lender, wrote in a note on Tuesday, citing media...
The war in Iran is testing the dollar’s role as the currency for global oil trade, with one long-term consequence being a potential shift to using more Chinese yuan, according to Deutsche Bank . “The conflict could be the catalyst for erosion in petrodollar dominance and the beginnings of the petroyuan,” Mallika Sachdeva , a strategist at the German lender, wrote in a note on Tuesday, citing media reports that Iran is allowing the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz if oil payments are made in yuan. China, a long-time partner of Iran, is also the nation’s biggest oil customer. Further fault lines in the petrodollar regime could have “significant downstream effects” to the dollar’s use in global trade and savings, as well as its role as the world’s reserve currency, according to the research report. China meanwhile has accelerated its efforts to boost the yuan’s global profile, challenging the dominance of the dollar in global trade and finance. The petrodollar arrangement can be traced back to 1974, when Saudi Arabia agreed to price oil in US dollars and invest surpluses in dollar assets, in exchange for security guarantees from Washington. Saudi Arabia, however, now sells four times as much oil to China as to the US. Gulf countries have also been experimenting with forms of non-dollar payment infrastructure such as Project mBridge. The near-halt to ship transits via Hormuz — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, along with vast amounts food, metals and other materials are shipped every day — has sent the prices of vital commodities soaring. Iran has said foreign ships are allowed to cross the Strait of Hormuz, as long as they aren’t supporting acts of aggression against the country and follow regulations put in place by Tehran.