Davos stories of the day, regulating the art market

The daily briefing “FirstFT” from the Financial Times.

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has died, elevating Crown Prince Salman to the helm of the world’s largest oil exporter, a key US ally.

In an effort to ensure stability in the succession, the new 79-year-old monarch quickly named his own successor, Prince Muqrin, as crown prince.

In the news:

Criminal charges for former Thai PM

Yingluck Shinawatra will face a charge of negligence and a possible jail term of up to 10 years for her role in a scheme that paid farmers above market prices for rice and cost the country billions of dollars. Legislators also voted to impeach her and ban her from politics for five years for her involvement in the scheme. (FT, Reuters)

Swedish business all shook up

Industrivarden and Handelsbank will replace their chairmen and chief executives after a scandal over the use of private jets . Industrivarden is one of Sweden’s two big holding companies and the affair has shaken faith in the Swedish model of active ownership under which shareholders nominate board directors and help guide company strategy. (FT)

Uber hits new legal problem in S Korea

The country’s communications watchdog said it would ask prosecutors to punish Uber’s local unit for violating communications laws. It said the ride-hailing service had failed to report its web-based location service to the regulator. (WSJ$)

DreamWorks says cut

The studio will reduce its film output and lay off 500 employees after a string of box office failures and two unsuccessful merger attempts. It said making three films a year “was just too ambitious and has led to inconsistent performance”. (NYT$)

Li Ka-shing close to buying 02

Telefonica is in talks to sell the mobile group to Hutchison Whampoa for more than £10bn. The deal to merge 02 with Hutchison Whampoa’s Three would create the UK’s largest mobile group. (FT)

It was a long time coming. But in the end, Mario Draghi’s quantitative easing plan outstripped expectations.
(FT)

Off-piste at Davos:

Francois Holland ( 10.30am GMT) and John Kerry (3.30pm GMT ) are speaking today while Jack Ma will be talking about the future of commerce (9.30am GMT). Wolfgang Schauble, George Soros and George Osborne will taking part in a discussion on strengthening the EU while delivering employment growth ( 12pm GMT). (WEF webcasts)

The art market needs regulating

Economist Nouriel Roubini says the sector is vulnerable to money laundering, tax evasion, trading on inside information and price manipulation. “While art looks as if it is all about beauty, as a business it is full of shady stuff,” he said. (FT)

The seven tribes of Davos

In the Davos Twitterverse, Arianna Huffington sits at the centre of a tribe of representatives from developing nations such as Nigeria, South Africa, Morocco and India. (FT)

It’s a big day for:

Premier Foods

A trading and sales update is coming from Premier Foods, one of the UK’s biggest food companies. In December, the maker of Kipling cakes and Ambrosia puddings was told by Britain’s small business lobby that it should be ashamed of itself for demanding that suppliers make annual cash payments or risk losing their contracts. (FT)

McDonald’s

McDonald’s reports full-year results today. The shine is coming off the Golden Arches as analysts expect weaker results with tough competition in the US and declining consumer confidence in Asia. (WSJ$, Forbes)

Food for thought:

New blood

Scientists have spliced animals together to show that young blood can rejuvenate old tissue . Now they are testing the effects on humans but there is concern about the treatment being tried in people outside approved clinical trials, especially with the unlicensed stem-cell transplants industry already booming. (Nature)

What’s the beef

There are plenty of headlines telling us about the risks of eating meat – obesity, heart disease, cancer – as well as the environmental issues with growing it. But it’s not clear-cut: a growing body of research suggests that giving up meat could do more harm than good. (New Scientist $)

Ageing Abercrombie & Fitch

The company grew on marketing exclusively to the skinny, young and beautiful. Businessweek examines how the it became overwhelmed by the stagecraft of ex-chief executive Michael Jeffries: “The shirtless models at the entrance were held to high standards … managers checked on each guy every 30 minutes to find out ‘how many photos are being taken with him and to see if it’s on track’.” (Businessweek)

Argentinian leader found dead

Hours before he was due to give evidence against President Cristina Fernandez over a bomb attack in Buenos Aires, the state prosecutor was found dead. She says it was not suicide – so who killed him? (FT)

Video of the day:

Why huge external imbalances herald disaster

Martin Wolf explains what happens when some countries spend much less than their incomes and so run big current account surpluses, while others do the opposite. (FT)

This article is published in collaboration with The Financial Times. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: FirstFT is the Financial Times’ editors curated free daily email of the top global stories from the FT and the best of the rest of the web.

Image: A man looks a screen outside a United Overseas Bank (UOB) branch in Singapore’s financial district. REUTERS/Vivek Prakash.