EY’s staff could reasonably ask: who’s steering this ship? Having tumbled from the lofty heights of “Project Everest” – a plan to break the business in two that collapsed after internal disagreement – bosses at Ernst & Young (EY) are asking searching questions about their future. “We will inevitably, in the next year or so, go through a strategic review,” says Hywel Ball, chairman of EY’s UK arm and a partner of more than 25 years. “One of the things they’ll look at is the dynamics that made...

Jeremy Hunt has finally admitted that there were flaws in the Bank of England’s economic forecasting after it failed to get a grip on runaway inflation. After months of refusing to comment on the Bank’s mistakes in the face of criticism from economists and Tory MPs, the Chancellor said on Monday that its modelling needed to improve. Asked whether the Bank had “got it right” on Monday, Mr Hunt told MPs: “The Bank of England governor himself has been very open about the fact that their...

Germany is leading opposition to the European Union’s plans to use cash made from frozen Russian assets to help pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Berlin officials are reportedly among a group who have flagged concerns after Brussels drew up proposals to raise billions of euros from Russian assets confiscated under the bloc’s sanctions regime. The plan would require the financial institutions who currently hold Russian central bank assets to hand over the profits those assets generate, so...

US Republicans are going to war against what they call a “radical environmental agenda” being pushed by the insurance industry, blaming it for pushing up premiums and fuel prices for millions of Americans. At the same time, climate campaigners are piling pressure on the same companies, arguing their green policies are too weak. The dilemma underscores how insurers found themselves an unlikely target in a battle over net zero. The furore has left the usually sleepy and solid industry...

Credit Suisse has been sold in a cut-price deal aimed at staving off a new financial crisis. The 167-year-old lender, which was valued at more than £65bn at its peak, has been taken over by arch-rival UBS in a £2.6bn deal just hours before financial markets opened, amid fears of panic if the bank's value slid further when trading began. Rival lenders were wargaming possible contagion across the European banking sector over the weekend, despite reassurances from officials that the sector was...