Bulgarian Government Resigns After Street Protests

The reason for the protests has been cited as economic policies and a perceived failure to tackle corruption.  

Consequently, PM Rossen Zhelyazkov has tended in his government's resignation. The PM has survived previous motions of no confidence - the government he runs has served less than a year in office.

Bulgaria's first budget in Euros has been withdrawn.  

Bulgaria's current currency is the Lev (1 USD = 1.66 Lev). Eurobarometer has said 49% of Bulgarians are against the Euro.

IBM to acquire Confluent

Moore Threads IPOs in China

Shanghai-based Moore Threads is a Chinese competitor to Nvidia which has raised the equivalent of more than $1bn.  Investors rushed in betting Beijing's push to end foreign technology reliance is now fully on.

The company was founded five years ago in 2020 by former Nvidia executive Zhang Jianzhong. 

Moore designs GPUs which have proven very useful in AI training. While analysts say China made chips lag behind foreign counterparts - friendly policies and investor keenness for AI related businesses - creates a strong environment for continued innovation.

Money raised will go to fund new R&D.

Netflix Acquiring Warner Bros for $82.7bn

The deal would give Netflix rights to several iconic franchises including DC Comics, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.

Owning the franchise means controlling the legal rights to exploit the intellectual property across different media and commercial formats such as films, TV, video games and merchandise and theme parks.

A key metric giving insight into the strategic rationale - content released in the last year make up 5% of titles on Netflix, drives 20% of viewing - showing engagement is directly correlated to content spend.

Cardamon's Price Rise due to Weather Pressures

Cardamom, a spice prized for its aromatic flavour, has seen a price rise in recent years owing to extremes of weather. 

In 2024 had India lost crop due to heat, and in Guatemala, 60% of crop was lost that season too. 

Guatemala is the world's largest cardamom producer, having overtaken India in production in recent years due to rich volcanic soil and export driven farming.

Cardamom is the third costliest spice by weight, after saffron and vanilla.

In India, technological solutions are being found to help cardamom farmers, piloted by the Indian Cardamom Research Institute (ICRI), based in Myladumpara, Kerala.

Evelyn Partners Sells EPFS (Employee Benefits Arm) to Howden, Refocus on Private Wealth

Private wealth manager Evelyn Partners is selling Evelyn Partners Financial Services, EPFS, to Howden, a global insurance intermediary, to refocus the firm on its core competency of wealth management. 

38 employees in the Employee Benefits department will transfer in the first quarter of 2026.

Evelyn Partners' CEO, Paul Geddes (former CEO of FTSE-250 firm Direct Line, acquired by Aviva on 1 July 2025) remarked appreciatively:

 "Howden will be a great long-term owner".

Evelyn has a 10-member Executive Management team headed by by Paul, covering areas like Finance, Financial Planning (led by Emma Sterland, ex-HSBC private bank), Risk and Compliance and Marketing. Technology comes under COO Bahador Mahvelati.

Evelyn is the third biggest UK wealth manager by AUM: in order - 

• St James' Place Wealth Management (£160bn+)
• Rathbones Group (£60bn+)
• Evelyn Partners (£60bn+), formerly Tilney Smith & Williamson

RBC Brewin Dolphin (under RBC) and Coutts (part of the NatWest Group) with £40bn come next.

Julius Baer loan losses of $184m Added

Julius Baer has completed a credit review - which has led to a decision to manage down a subset of its loan positions, primarily in income-producing residential and commercial real estate.

The Lombard loan book and the traditional residential mortgage portfolio are resilient.

Lombard loans (also known as margin loans) are a type of secured loan where liquid assets (securities, bank balances) are pledged as collateral, typically granted to private wealth clients.  These loans may be significantly over-collateralized with liquid assets  - thus reducing risk to the lender.

The name is taken from the Lombards of Northern Italy, who first established the conventions of banking in the Middle Ages.

Benefits to banks are a relatively low-risk stream of additional income, while strengthening ties with important high net worth customers.

"We are now entirely aligned around our core wealth management proposition," CEO Stefan Bollinger said. Stefan started his career at Zurcher Kantonalbank as an interest rates derivatives trader.

He has introduced new measures since joining, including reducing the size of the executive board from 15 to 5, streamlined regional setup and is introducing efficiency measures.

Julius Baer is headquartered in Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich (a popular shopping street, largely pedestrianised). Key metrics including assets under management (497bn CHF for Dec24), and net new money (CHF bn) and total assets (CHF m) can be found on their financial information webpage.