Goldman fund to quit London, a green light for Brexit, and the CIA’s man in Syria

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Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, which opened in 2008 with one of the biggest launches in hedge fund history, is folding its London operations into the US and shifting staff to New York. GSIP started in 2008 with total assets of $7bn, including $2bn of Goldman’s own money. But performance was patchy and a few years ago the bank began pulling money out of the fund to comply with the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.

Although many financial services groups are reviewing their staffing in the UK after the vote to leave the EU, Goldman insists the move is not connected to Brexit. (Reuters, FT)

In the news

Green light for Brexit The UK parliament has given prime minister Theresa May the green light to trigger Brexit, by passing her Article 50 bill with no amendments. The vote marks a success for Mrs May, who saw off a rebellion from within her own Conservative party. The opposition Labour party fared less well, with 52 MPs defying their leaders to vote against the bill. (FT)

Gulf bonanza ends Highly paid expatriates are voting with their feet and leaving the oil-rich Gulf as austerity measures push up living costs and delay or halt multimillion-dollar projects. (FT)

Abuse of power? Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka was a trustee for a large bloc of shares in 21st Century Fox and News Corp that belonged to Rupert Murdoch’s two youngest daughters, underscoring the close ties between the US president’s family and Fox News. Ms Trump’s brand has also taken a few hits lately (something her father is using the official presidential Twitter account to complain about). (FT, NYT)

Just say ‘Cheese’ Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, a former prime minister who Somalis have nicknamed ‘Cheese’, was elected president by the country’s main clans. He will preside over a crisis-plagued country that has not had a direct election since its government collapsed in 1991. (NYT)

Assange on notice Julian Assange will be forced to leave Ecuador’s embassy in London if the leading opposition candidate wins next week’s elections. Guillermo Lasso of the rightwing Creo-Suma alliance said Mr Assange’s asylum at the embassy, where he has been living for the past four and a half years, is no longer justified. (Guardian)

It’s a big day for

Copper BHP Billiton said it would halt output at its Escondida mine in Chile after unions voted to start striking on Thursday, sending copper prices up 2 per cent on Wednesday. Here is Lex on copper’s rally. (FT)

US airlines The heads of US airlines are to meet Donald Trump and are expecting a request to create jobs and boost US production. (ABC)

Food for thought

Trump’s axis of upheaval US presidents must always brace themselves for unexpected crises — for example, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 or the September 11 2001 terror attacks. The areas where Mr Trump will be forced to confront serious challenges are Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. Tensions with Beijing are particularly high, especially after Xi Jinping received only a letter for the first direct communication with the US president — most major world leaders got a phone call. (FT, Bloomberg)

CIA’s man in Syria The failure of Barack Obama’s halfhearted Syria policy is laid bare through an interview with a one-time ‘fixer’ for anti-Assad forces. Inter-agency rivalry, lack of an overarching strategy and a determination to avoid entanglement in Syria’s increasingly brutal civil war exacerbated the country’s mayhem. (FT)

Books are back Noticed how ebooks have quietly become more expensive than physical books? Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wants it that way. (FT)

Coding is the new mining The next blue-collar job category could be programming, providing secure, stimulating jobs for millions. (Wired)

Myanmar in the hot seat Decades of repression of the country’s Rohingya minority are sparking escalating violence and refugee flows, and are marring Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s reformist image. (NAR)

Video of the day

Eurozone back in crisis over Greece Yields on Greek sovereign debt are sharply up, reflecting concerns about splits between the eurozone and International Monetary Fund over the future of Greece’s debt programme and with the political window for an agreement beginning to close. (FT)