Rise of the neobank

Two of the biggest oil companies in the Middle East scale down their acquisition sprees, and Wall Street’s comeback has dramatically narrowed the gap with European stocks. Plus, the US is lifting sanctions on Syria, and Klarna makes some changes to its business model.Mentioned in this podcast:Gulf oil companies slow $60bn acquisition spree as crude prices fall US dollar suffers worst start to year since 1973 US stock market comeback tests investor faith in rotation to EuropeDonald Trump lifts most US sanctions on SyriaKlarna accelerates shift to digital bank ahead of second IPO attemptToday’s FT News Briefing was produced by Sonja Hutson, Kasia Broussalian, and Ethan Plotkin. Additional help from Blake Maples, and Gavin Kallmann. Our acting co-head of audio is Topher Forhecz. Our intern is Michaela Seah. The show’s theme song is by Metaphor Music. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.