LONDON: The pound on Friday gave back some of the gains it made the day before as investors reassessed whether British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had made any progress in convincing the European Union to renegotiate the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s comments on Thursday that a solution to the Irish border question post-Brexit could be found before Oct. 31, the deadline for Britain to leave the EU, triggered a sharp rally in the pound.
But many analysts said the comments reflected market positioning rather than any confidence Britain and the EU would renegotiate their agreement to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
“The market is very short and that is naturally going to make the market very sensitive to any news (that makes them think)...have we got this wrong?,” said Jane Foley, a strategist at Rabobank.
“I’ve not read an awful lot into these moves,” she said, adding that thin summer liquidity had exacerbated this week’s volatility.
Sterling fell 0.5% to $1.2197 on Friday, retreating from the 3-week high hit on Thursday.
Versus euro the pound was down 0.4% on the day at 90.770 pence.
Sterling falls as doubts about Brexit backstop hopes grow
Sterling falls as doubts about Brexit backstop hopes grow
- Sterling fell 0.5% to $1.2197 on Friday, retreating from the 3-week high hit on Thursday
- Angela Merkel previously suggested a solution to the Irish border question could be found
Egypt-born Dina Powell McCormick appointed Meta president and vice chairman
- The former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official previously served on Meta’s board of directors
- Powell McCormick, who was born in Cairo and moved to the US as a child, joins the management team and will help guide overall strategy and execution
LONDON: Meta has appointed Egypt-born Dina Powell McCormick as its new president and vice chairman.
The company said on Monday that the former Goldman Sachs partner and White House official, who previously served on Meta’s board of directors, is stepping up into a senior leadership role as the company accelerates its push into artificial intelligence and global infrastructure.
Powell McCormick, who was born in Cairo and moved to the US as a young girl, will join the management team and help guide its overall strategy and execution. She will work closely with Meta’s Compute and infrastructure teams, the company said, overseeing multi-billion-dollar investments in data centers, energy systems and global connectivity, while building new strategic capital partnerships.
“Dina’s experience at the highest levels of global finance, combined with her deep relationships around the world, makes her uniquely suited to help Meta manage this next phase of growth as the company’s president and vice chairman,” Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.
Powell McCormick has more than 25 years of experience in finance, national security and economic development. She spent 16 years as a partner at Goldman Sachs in senior leadership roles, and served two US presidents, including stints as deputy national security adviser to Donald Trump, and a senior State Department official under George W. Bush.
Most recently, she was vice chair and president of global client services at merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners.
