Sunak to challenge Biden over US green subsidy package at upcoming talks

The UK and US will “work through” concerns about Joe Biden’s multibillion-dollar package of green subsidies, Rishi Sunak revealed ahead of talks with the US president today in San Diego.

The Prime Minister welcomed the Biden administration’s commitment to tackling climate change, but confirmed the UK had already raised concerns about the measures in the Inflation Reduction Act.

Sunak told reporters: “We have raised concerns with the US about the Inflation Reduction Act and we will work through with them as they think about how best to implement it.

The $430bn (£357bn) package is an attempt to make the economy environmentally friendly with tax credits for green technology.

It is the largest spending commitment towards renewables ever signed into law.

However it has strained relations with European economies, which have been frozen out of US markets – with the EU set to announce its own plans to compete with the … Read more

Regulators take over Silicon Valley Bank as failure raises fears

US regulators have shut down Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and taken control of its customer deposits in the largest failure of a US bank since 2008.

The moves came as the firm, a key tech lender, was scrambling to raise money to plug a loss from the sale of assets affected by higher interest rates.

Its troubles prompted a rush of customer withdrawals and sparked fears about the state of the banking sector.

Officials said they acted to “protect insured depositors”.

Silicon Valley Bank faced “inadequate liquidity and insolvency”, banking regulators in California, where the firm has its headquarters, said as they announced the takeover.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which typically protects deposits up to $250,000, said it had taken charge of the roughly $175bn (£145bn) in deposits held at the bank, the 16th largest in the US.

Bank offices would reopen and clients with insured deposits would … Read more