Russian luxurious automobile smugglers take longer routes to evade sanctions

At this time’s agenda: Eurozone financial institution shares’ document 12 months; US bank card mortgage defaults soar; Robin Harding on why the robots aren’t coming; and the 12 months of democracy in charts

Good morning. We begin with an unique story about Russian smugglers, who’re charging tens of hundreds of euros to import luxurious vehicles from Europe, as EU sanctions in response to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine hit the nation’s rich.

Right here’s what we all know: The Monetary Instances has recognized 5 Russian firms providing to smuggle vehicles from Europe with engine sizes ample to return below EU sanctions, which have been imposed in 2022 as a part of a ban on the export of luxurious items to the nation. The FT additionally recognized greater than 50 luxurious vehicles from 25 totally different German automobile dealerships on the Russian web site Auto.ru, which Russian importers have been providing at a median mark-up of about €19,000.

Why it issues: The availability of European vehicles to Russia comes regardless of the EU boosting sanctions since President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in an effort to choke Moscow’s conflict machine and provoke dissatisfaction with the federal government. For the reason that EU tightened restrictions in July on luxurious items coming into Belarus — as soon as a preferred third nation by way of which to import to Russia — smugglers are utilizing more and more lengthy and costly routes to ship the autos. Right here’s what officers are saying in regards to the smuggling.

Right here’s what else we’re conserving tabs on in the present day:

South Korea: The nation begins the second of seven days of nationwide mourning for victims of the Jeju Air crash, one of many worst aviation disasters in years.

‘Black moon’: The night time sky might be primed for superb stargazing situations tonight amid the uncommon incidence of a second new moon in a single calendar month.

With 2025 nearly upon us, try the most recent situation of our Week Forward publication, which lays out the important thing occasions of the approaching 12 months.

5 extra prime tales

1. Former US president Jimmy Carter has died aged 100, the Carter Middle mentioned. Carter, who later received the Nobel Peace Prize, died peacefully yesterday at his house in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his household, the human rights organisation he based mentioned in a press release. Learn extra about his life and legacy.

Obituary: Whereas his one-term presidency remains to be extensively dismissed as a disappointment, Carter turned an influential ethical voice after leaving the White Home.

2. Eurozone financial institution shares are poised for his or her highest finish to the 12 months in additional than a decade after lenders weathered a fall in rates of interest and promised document shareholder returns. The Euro Stoxx Banks index, which tracks the largest lenders within the forex bloc, has jumped by greater than a fifth in 2024.

3. Defaults on US bank card loans have hit the very best degree for the reason that wake of the 2008 monetary disaster, in an indication that lower-income customers’ monetary well being is waning after years of excessive inflation. Bank card lenders wrote off $46bn in critically delinquent mortgage balances within the first 9 months of 2024, up 50 per cent from the identical interval within the 12 months prior.

4. Unique: A document variety of senior legal professionals moved jobs in London this 12 months because the arrival of US regulation companies within the capital continues to disrupt the market and gas pay wars for expertise. The UK’s “magic circle”, which incorporates companies equivalent to Linklaters and Clifford Likelihood, have been significantly affected. Suzi Ring has extra particulars.

5. Unique: The variety of individuals within the UK who admitted not paying tax on their abroad belongings jumped by 22 per cent in 2023-24, in accordance with authorities information. The federal government has promised to lift billions of kilos by clamping down on tax evasion and avoidance. One knowledgeable mentioned: “HMRC’s aggressive pursuit of tax avoiders now leaves only a few locations to cover.”

Information in-depth

Priceless heritage websites in Lebanon have sustained irreparable harm from Israel’s air marketing campaign throughout its conflict in opposition to Hizbollah, consultants say. One preservation group says a minimum of 9 heritage websites have been fully destroyed and 15 badly or partially broken by Israeli assaults between September — when the nation escalated its year-long conflict with Hizbollah — and a ceasefire in November.

We’re additionally studying…

12 months in a phrase: Competitiveness. For Europe, Mario Draghi’s report on the roots of its slowdown was a clarion name for change, writes Brussels bureau chief Henry Foy.

Personal faculties: A rising quantity within the UK are mentioned to be partaking in an “arms race” for services, contributing to an increase in charges as they woo the ultra-rich.

Trump 2.0: The incoming US president is choosing nominees with vested curiosity to be in command of key regulatory areas, presenting a systemic monetary danger, writes Patrick Jenkins.

AI and androids: The expertise’s rise doesn’t imply the robots are coming — a minimum of not but, writes Robin Harding.

Charts of the 12 months

With a couple of and a half billion ballots solid in elections throughout 73 nations, 2024 provided a uncommon alternative to take the social and political temperature of virtually half of the world’s inhabitants. Right here’s what the “12 months of democracy” taught us, in six charts.

The preferred tales of 2024

As 2024 attracts to an in depth, right here’s a glance again on the FT’s most-read tales this 12 months. Our protection of November’s US presidential election claimed the highest spots, main with the reside outcomes map which confirmed outcomes as they got here in state by state. This was carefully adopted by our interactive story on polling information, which allowed readers to chart potential paths to victory for both candidate.

And outdoors the political realm, Claer Barrett’s piece on the way to defend your monetary information with the rise of cellphone theft was the most well-liked. Her recommendation is as helpful now because it was when the story was first printed in Could.