FirstFT: Today’s top stories | Financial Times

How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.

The heads of Robinhood, Citadel, Melvin Capital and Reddit, along with the Reddit trader who goes by the name of Roaring Kitty, testified before the US House Committee on Financial Services regarding the short squeeze in GameStop shares last month that was fuelled by online traders.

Robinhood chief executive Vlad Tenev admitted on Thursday that the company would not have been immediately able to meet a $3bn capital call from its equity clearinghouse on January 28. 

The remark contrasted with some comments Tenev had made over the past several weeks, including that the company did not have a liquidity issue in January.

Robinhood ultimately restricted trading in several securities, including GameStop, to reduce the capital it needed to post to the clearinghouse. Tenev on Thursday apologised for the events surrounding its suspension of trading in what he called a “black swan” event. 

Lawmakers throughout the hearing keep returning to the practice of payment for order flow, under which market makers such as Citadel Securities pay retail brokers, such as Robinhood, to execute their customers’ trades.

Ken Griffin, Citadel Securities’ chief executive, defended the practice, saying payment for order flow was an “important source of innovation in the industry” because it drove the industry toward zero-commission trading. He also adamantly denied that his company and Robinhood had co-ordinated in any way when the trading app limited trading in GameStop and other heavily shorted stocks. (FT)

Coronavirus digest

Britain must do better for disabled people, our editorial board writes, after data showed that people with disabilities accounted for 60 per cent of those who died during the first wave of the pandemic — between March and November 2020. 

In the news

Female Olympian takes helm at Tokyo games Seiko Hashimoto, a 56-year-old government minister and former Olympian, will take over the crisis-hit 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Hashimoto was chosen to replace Yoshiro Mori, the 83-year-old former prime minister who resigned after his remarks about women caused an international backlash. (FT)

Ted Cruz criticised for Mexico trip during Texas crisis As millions of Texans grappled with a record-setting Arctic blast and electricity blackouts, the Republican senator for the state flew from Houston to Cancún, Mexico on Wednesday. He has since returned. Meanwhile, as power was slowly restored across Texas, many were still in need of safe drinking water. (FT, AP)

Chinese stocks touch record post-holiday Chinese stocks briefly climbed to an all-time high on Thursday when the CSI 300 index of large Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks jumped as much as 2 per cent to an intraday record of almost 5,931 points in early trading as traders returned from the lunar new year holiday. (FT)

Apollo appoints ex-SEC chair as lead independent director The appointment of Jay Clayton is the latest in a series of governance reforms that the Wall Street group has taken as it attempts to quell investor disquiet over professional ties between its billionaire co-founder Leon Black and the late Jeffrey Epstein. (FT)

Biden speaks to Netanyahu Joe Biden has spoken to Israel’s prime minister for the first time since taking office as US president, ending a four-week silence that was interpreted as a deliberate snub by some allies of Benjamin Netanyahu. (FT)

Nasa’s ‘Perseverance’ rover lands on Mars The most sophisticated vehicle sent from Earth to the red planet has landed successfully. For the next two years the car-sized vehicle will search for signs of life, launch a helicopter and prepare the way for future human visits. (FT)

The day ahead

Hong Kong Disneyland reopens The theme park will reopen on Friday after closing on December 2 because of rising Covid-19 cases. The recent closure was the park’s third since the beginning of the pandemic. (Hollywood Reporter)

UK releases public finances data With the UK Budget nearing, the UK’s public finances will be under extra scrutiny this Friday as government spending continues to rise owing to falling tax revenues and the high cost of support schemes for businesses and workers. (FT)

Boris Johnson hosts G7 meeting At the virtual gathering on Friday the UK prime minister will push for Covid-19 vaccine distribution in “every single country” around the world. The summit will be Joe Biden’s first multilateral meeting as US president. (Independent)

What else we’re reading

Big Tech versus journalism In trying to force a new economic settlement between the news industry and Big Tech, did the Australian government just save journalism — or break it? With Facebook and Google taking radically different approaches, the consequences are unclear for other news groups. (FT)

HK’s historic businesses face uncertain future Two giant colonial-era companies have woven themselves into the fabric of Hong Kong society over two centuries. But as the city undergoes fundamental waves of change and Beijing tightens its political grip, can Jardine Matheson and Swire maintain their pre-eminence? (FT)

FT View: Indian farmers’ protests highlight Modi’s flaws Perhaps no area of the Indian economy is as ripe for reform as agriculture, writes our editorial board. But mishandling of the issue by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party has again highlighted the shortcomings of his hard-driving approach. (FT)

After Brexit: the UK and EU risk a state of ‘permanent alert’ Disputes over issues such as Northern Ireland and trade leave London and Brussels unsure of their future relationship. Six weeks in, and the UK and EU have still not decided what sort of divorce they want. (FT)

• A growing number of EU migrants are leaving UK citing the pandemic, the post-Brexit uncertainty, and the relative weakness of the pound, which makes countries paying in euros more attractive.

Why economists kept getting policies wrong In the 1990s, economic policy swept away the postwar balance between the interests of society and markets, and the gains of globalisation were scooped up by the super-rich. After decades of market liberalism and fiscal fundamentalism, policymakers are returning to Keynesianism, writes Philip Stephens. (FT)

Essential workers, one year later Early in the pandemic, essential workers from food delivery couriers to flight attendants were lauded for their work on the front lines. Nearly a year later, workers weigh in on how their lives have changed, and what the future looks like for their profession. Women in the gig economy make less on average than men in the same jobs, a new study said. (NYT, The Lily)

Why the glut of live football is a lockdown lifesaver Average audiences for BT Sport’s Premier League matches are up 13 per cent, while viewing numbers across all the channel’s sports events are up 51 per cent. Matches, and online discussions of them, take on added significance for fans stuck at home. (FT)

Podcast of the day

Rachman Review: The world in review In a special retrospective episode, Gideon Rachman looks at some of his favourite podcast conversations that illuminate the state of geopolitics today, asking whether the pandemic has permanently changed the world.