Presenting the outlines of a proposed stock-market listing of Porsche, executives of parent company Volkswagen AG emphasized how the initial public offering, likely to be one of Europe’s largest ever, “benefits all stakeholders.” However, at Volkswagen, some stakeholders are more important than others. Though the complicated plan has some appeal for VW’s institutional investors, its most eye-catching feature is to ...

  Oil major BP Plc is to exit its shareholding in Russian oil company Rosneft PJSC. It should transfer its troublesome asset to a trust designed to put future dividends, or proceeds from a sale, to good use. The current narrative seems to see only two alternatives for BP to offload its 19.75% shareholding in Rosneft — either find a ...

All eyes are on the conventional war unfolding in Ukraine. But a very different kind of conflict looms over the conflict. Before invading, Putin staged nuclear weapons drills around Russia’s border with Ukraine. In case anyone missed the point, his speech justifying the invasion reminded listeners that his country remained “one of the most powerful nuclear powers.” Worse, this rant ...