VTB, Russia’s second-largest bank, is set to become the latest victim of Western sanctions. His UK department is set to appear in court in London today, where he will ask the judge to order the so-called special administration, according to Bloomberg. It comes after a court ordered the liquidation of the unit of Russia’s largest lender Sberbank in the UK, while Sova Capital, a London-based broker controlled by Russian banker Roman Avdeev, entered a special administration last month. Specialized management is a form of insolvency that shields the wider market from collapse. The British company Gazprom almost avoided this fate, as Germany took control of the subsidiary of the gas giant.

5 things to start your day with

  1. Taxpayer’s 400 400 million in hydrogen as ministers try to achieve clean zero targets Hydrogen technology is expected to provide a low-carbon medium for powering heavy vehicles and trains
  2. Uber adds airline and train tickets to its app The Ride-hailing app aims to become a ‘single store’ for transport bookings
  3. “Channel 4’s goal is to take risks”: why a sale could boomerang The release of the broadcaster from public ownership could allow it to compete with guys like Netflix Biden faces recession as election year approaches, Deutsche Bank warns The Federal Reserve will raise interest rates aggressively to curb the strongest inflation in 40 years
  4. P&O Ferries tells customers to stay away from Dover for Easter. Services to rival companies are fully reserved, which means they can not deal with those who now can not travel with P&O

What happened overnight

Asian stock markets slipped on Wednesday as investors faced a possible monetary tightening from the US Federal Reserve to fight inflation, while also focusing on new Western sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. In morning trading in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei fell nearly 2%, while South Korean stocks fell 0.9% and Australian stocks lost 0.75%. MSCI’s broader Asia-Pacific equities index fell outside Japan by 1.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.3%, moving away from a one-month high on Monday. Shanghai lost 0.1% as markets in mainland China reopened after two days off.

He is coming today

Company: Hilton Food Group, Lookers (full year results). Hyve Group, Imperial Brands, Motorpoint, Topps Tiles (transaction update) Finance: Construction PMI (UK), Producer Price Index (EU), FOMC (US) cents