Ukraine talks, secret files, Australian politics

It’s a big day for

Angela Merkel, who meets Barack Obama today in a bid to secure a diplomatic solution to the escalating Ukraine crisis. France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia failed to come to an agreement during talks at the weekend.

Ms Merkel has put huge effort into bringing Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and is adamantly opposed to arming Ukraine. Support for military aid has grown in Washington but Obama has so far been silent on the topic. (FT)

In the news

HSBC’s Swiss secrets leaked Leaked secret bank account files have revealed how HSBC’s Swiss private bank helped customers avoid taxes and conceal billions of dollars of assets, in some cases colluding to conceal undeclared “black” accounts from domestic tax authorities. Some clients have been linked to arms trafficking and blood diamonds, while others are closely connected to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and Tunisia’s Ben Ali. The account holders also include former and current politicians from across the globe. (ICIJ, The Guardian)

No Greek bailout extension Alexis Tsipras insisted that he will not seek an extension to the current bailout even though he failed to win support for a restructuring of Greece’s EUR315bn foreign debt. (FT)

Buffett under fire Analysts want Berkshire Hathaway to provide more detail in its financial disclosures. They call the scant detail in quarterly filings “poor” and “terrible”. He says since the age of 11, he’s never once bought something on the basis of an analyst recommendation.(FT)

Abbott survives Tony Abbott survived a no-confidence vote by a margin of 61 votes to 39 after facing a backbench revolt. The narrower than expected victory suggests more challenges on the horizon for Australia’s beleaguered prime minister. (FT)

Forex woes deepen for UBS and Barclays The US Department of Justice is scrutinising currency-linked investments marketed by the two banks. It is examining whether they sold structured products without disclosing the profit they were making from currency trades used to generate the products’ returns. (FT)

Food for thought

The bodyguard business Venezuela’s bodyguard industry has grown 70 per cent in the past two years as bodyguards escort middle class children to parties. Now these bodyguards are trying to camouflage themselves to avoid being targeted by criminals. As Juvenal might have said, had he been in Caracas, quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (BBC Radio)

Philanthropic youth The wealthy are donating more at a younger age, partly because they are making their fortunes earlier in life and partly under peer pressure. But there has also been a sharp rise in contributions to donor-advised funds which effectively front-end tax benefits while donors are still deciding where to direct the money. Critics say that not enough of these funds are being distributed. (New Yorker)

Burning Man’s Billionaire’s Row A confab is breaking out over the presence of the rich at the supposedly anti-commercial Burning Man Festival in Nevada. The backlash came when an employee at an enclosed camp wrote a tell-all story, describing the hired “mistresses of merriment” and the exclusive nightclub feel to the camp which she said reinforce the class divisions of the real world. (Bloomberg)

Fast and Furious cycling Street hardened racers in Los Angeles are turning away from criminal lives to fight for prestige in competitive races. The rides vary from drag races over 1,000 feet to “alley cat” races, which spice up the action with mid-race challenges such as guzzling milk or putting on women’s underwear. (LA Weekly)

Video of the day

Aung San Suu Kyi’s search for “one brave soldier” The military’s guaranteed bloc of 25 per cent of parliamentary seats gives it an effective veto on constitutional change, which requires a more than three-quarters majority. Ms Suu Kyi says she needs one of the military to break ranks and help prize the generals’ grip from power. She also talks to David Pilling about removing the law that bars her from becoming president. (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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Image: A Ukrainian soldier stands guard at a military camp on a field the Ukrainian Army forces set up close to the Russian border in east Ukraine. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis.