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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Segantii Capital Management has told investors it will hand back their money, weeks after Hong Kong authorities announced a criminal insider dealing case against the hedge fund and its founder Simon Sadler. 

The firm told investors that it would return external capital. 

“We have always believed at Segantii that it is a great responsibility and privilege to professionally manage money — and we have never taken that lightly,” a spokesperson for the firm said on Thursday.

“We have decided, however, that at this time, it is in the best interests of our investors to return their capital in an orderly manner.” 

Segantii, which was founded by Blackpool Football Club owner Sadler, grew into a dominant player in block trading, a corner of finance in which banks offload chunks of shares privately. 

This is a developing story

But the GB News broadcaster made clear his priorities were now across the pond, stressing the forthcoming U.S. election on November 5 has “huge global significance.

“A strong America as a close ally is vital for our peace and security,” he wrote. “I intend to help with the grassroots campaign in the USA in any way that I can.”

Farage and Trump go way back.

He was the first U.K. politician to meet Trump after the latter’s election victory in 2016 and has interviewed him on numerous occasions.

The Brexit campaigner previously said he “can’t remember” whether Trump had offered him a job if he returns to the White House. He’s previously mooted being the U.K.’s ambassador in Washington to bridge relations between a Trump administration and a Labour government in London, though this is extremely unlikely to happen.

Farage’s decision not to stand will come as a relief to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as POLITICO’s Poll of Polls show Reform consistently polling above 10 percent.

Farage last stood for parliament in 2015, his seventh unsuccessful attempt seeking election to the House of Commons. In 2019, Farage withdrew his Brexit Party candidates (Reform’s predecessor) in Tory held seats, seen as contributing to Boris Johnson achieving an 80 seat majority.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

US federal prosecutors are set to seek to break up Live Nation Entertainment in a lawsuit alleging that Ticketmaster’s dominance in ticketing violates antitrust law, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Department of Justice alongside a group of states could file a case as early as Thursday, the person said. It will pursue remedies including splitting Live Nation Entertainment, which was created by the 2010 merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster.

The company has had a long-standing legal stand-off with the DoJ, and it has faced growing pushback from fans, lawmakers, artists and competitors who accuse it of having too much power over the live entertainment industry.

The issue has drawn more attention in the past few years as prices have soared and musicians began touring again after a pandemic-induced hiatus. The average US concert ticket price rose to nearly $131 in 2023, up 23 per cent from the prior year, according to Pollstar.

The DoJ declined to comment. Live Nation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company’s shares dropped more than 6 per cent in after-hours trading.

The justice department in 2010 gave the green light to the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation subject to a 10-year settlement agreement that forced Ticketmaster to license a copy of its ticketing software to rival Anschutz Entertainment Group and divest ticketing assets. The DoJ also barred it from retaliating against venues that choose alternative ticketing or promotional services.

In 2019, the DoJ modified and extended the agreement, saying the group had “repeatedly” violated the initial deal. Prosecutors added new provisions including specifying that the retaliation ban would apply to venues that host “one or more” live events, not just “all Live Nation content”. But they also added that the group could bundle products and services “in any combination”.

The lawsuit would mark the DoJ’s latest antitrust broadside against corporate America. Jonathan Kanter, head of the department’s antitrust unit, has adopted a tougher enforcement stance in a bid to tackle anti-competitive conduct he argues has proliferated in recent decades due to lax policy.

On an earnings call earlier this month, Live Nation Entertainment’s chief financial officer Joe Berchtold said the DoJ’s investigation “appears to be focused on specific business practices, not the legality of Live Nation/Ticketmaster merger or our overall business structure”. 

“Based on the issues we know about, we don’t believe a break-up of Live Nation and Ticketmaster would be a legally permissible remedy”, Berchtold added.

Frustration against Ticketmaster was exacerbated by its fiasco in 2022 during the sale of tickets for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, when buyers were left waiting for hours as its website was overwhelmed by massive demand. Ticketmaster cancelled a subsequent ticket sale due to “insufficient remaining ticket inventory”.

Lawmakers across parties railed against Ticketmaster after the Swift debacle, calling Live Nation Entertainment to testify before Congress shortly thereafter alongside artists and competitors.

Bloomberg first reported news of the lawsuit.