FirstFT: Today’s top stories | Financial Times

The value of stock market listings by Chinese technology companies dropped more than 60 per cent in the second quarter, as regulators in Beijing broadened their crackdown on the sector.

Since the start of April, initial public offerings by China’s tech groups on exchanges worldwide have raised just $6bn, down almost two-thirds from the first quarter, according to data from Dealogic.

The share of tech listings as a proportion of all Chinese IPOs also fell to the lowest level in two years, at just 21 per cent of the more than $28bn raised during the period.

The decline comes as Chinese tech groups have faced pressure from Beijing, which in recent months has stepped up regulatory scrutiny of some of the biggest names in the sector. Subscribe to our #techAsia newsletter for more.

Five stories in the news

1. UK financial watchdog bans crypto exchange Binance The Financial Conduct Authority has ordered Binance to stop all regulated activities in Britain and imposed stringent requirements in a stinging rebuke of one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchanges. Binance said the move would have no direct impact on its website. (FT, Bloomberg)

2. Toshiba director resigns warning of more instability Shareholders in Toshiba have prolonged “instability and uncertainty” at the troubled conglomerate with their shock vote to remove the chair of the company’s board, said a director who saw no choice but to resign following last Friday’s investor revolt.

• More in Japanese corporate news: Panasonic has sold its entire stake in longstanding battery partner Tesla for about Â¥400bn ($3.6bn) as it seeks to raise cash to finance its biggest-ever overseas acquisition.

3. Kashmiri leader urges Modi to release political prisoners Mehbooba Mufti, one of Kashmir’s most senior pro-democracy leaders, said India’s promise of a new election in the territory must be accompanied by the release of political prisoners and other measures including a financial support package to restore public confidence.

4. Crispr therapy treats internal organ for first time Early trial data from Intellia Therapeutics, co-founded by Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna, marked a breakthrough for Crispr-based treatments, showing scientists had overcome challenges that had previously restricted the technology’s use to editing cells outside the body or in the eye. 

5. Trump looks to 2022 with comeback rally Donald Trump held his first rally since leaving the White House on Saturday night, addressing thousands of supporters in a freewheeling speech at a fairground in north-east Ohio that the former US president billed as the “very first rally of the 2022 election”. The former president’s return to the political stage has Republicans jostling.

• Elsewhere in US news: Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison on Friday for the murder of George Floyd, whose death became a watershed moment in the national debate over race and policing. 

Coronavirus digest

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The day ahead

Wimbledon Tennis Championships opens The grand slam tournament begins today, but only the final matches at Wimbledon will feature full capacity crowds on Centre Court. From an Andy Murray-approved capsule to retro-inspired dresses, tennis apparel is getting an upgrade this summer. (How to Spend It)

Outgoing Israeli president visits the White House Israeli president Reuven Rivlin will meet US president Joe Biden on Monday, ahead of the end of Rivlin’s term which concludes in July. Israel has expressed serious reservations about the Vienna negotiations over the Iran nuclear deal. (Reuters)

What else we’re reading

China’s century of revolutions Deng Xiaoping, who became China’s paramount leader in 1978, is rightly credited with a clutch of commercial liberalisations. But his political reforms also targeted the Chinese Communist party’s tragic flaw: that concentrated power, if left unchecked, slides ineluctably into political viciousness and economic stagnation. As China’s ruling party turns 100, James Kynge takes a look back at its history.

UK businesses are still battling with Brexit Almost a third of British companies that trade with the EU have suffered a decline or loss of business since post-Brexit rules took effect, according to a survey conducted for the Financial Times. Six months after Brexit, companies continue to wrestle with new red tape.

Apple Daily’s death leaves a shadow over Hong Kong press Apple Daily was a powerful symbol of the latent dissent still raging below the surface of the city. The closure of the Chinese-language newspaper signals how authorities are using the national security law to stifle Hong Kong’s free-spirited media. Its forced closure speaks to Asia’s authoritarian resurgence.

The jihadi gold rush fuelling violence in Africa The central Sahel region has become the centre of a surge in jihadi activity, killing thousands, displacing millions and rendering wide swaths of the region completely ungoverned. The wave of violence, now increasingly targeting gold mining areas, is threatening to destabilise the wider region.

‘I told my entire network that I am gay’ Earlier this month Lee Shankland-Gort wrote a LinkedIn post telling his entire professional network that he was gay and married. “As much as I want to always fly the flag for the LGBTQ+ people, in situations with new or prospective clients I’ve often found myself expertly manoeuvring the conversation away from my home life,” he writes to mark Pride month.

Work and careers

There are growing signs that employees around the world want a change after 15 turbulent pandemic months upended working life, writes Pilita Clark. As workers around the world rethink their jobs, the enduring power of mentorship remains. We never outgrow our ability to learn from one another, writes Enuma Okoro.