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KPMG has underscored its position as laggard of the Big Four after posting the slowest growth in global sales among the accountancy and consulting firms during the latest financial year.

The smallest of the Big Four, KPMG brought in revenues of $36.4bn in the 12 months to the end of September, representing local currency growth of 8 per cent.

This lagged Deloitte, EY and PwC, which all reported double-digit revenue growth during their latest financial years, widening the gap between KPMG and its rivals. Deloitte is the largest, with revenues of $64.9bn.

KPMG would need to increase its revenues by more than a third to catch EY, the next smallest Big Four firm.

The results come after KPMG has battled challenges across several markets in the past year, including scrutiny over its audits at three failed US banks, a governance scandal at its Dubai business and a record regulatory fine in the UK. Here’s what the firm has promised to do to boost performance.

And here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• US interest rates: The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold rates steady when it announces its latest monetary policy decision, with the latest month-on-month rise in core inflation damping investors’ hopes for cuts. For more, premium subscribers can sign up to our Central Banks newsletter by Chris Giles, or upgrade your subscription here.

• Crimea: The European Court of Human Rights holds a hearing in Strasbourg on Ukraine’s case against Russia relating to alleged violations of international law following Moscow’s annexation of the peninsula in 2014.

• Economic data: Opec publishes its monthly oil market report, the EU has October industrial production figures and the UK releases estimated October gross domestic product.

• EU-western Balkans: Leaders meet in Brussels to discuss deepening ties and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

• Results: Adobe, Inditex and OVS report.

Five more top stories

1. Joe Biden has warned that Israel’s “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza risks leaving the country isolated. In his harshest criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government since its war against Hamas started, Biden said the Jewish state was starting to lose support globally and needed to change tack. Read more on the US president’s remarks.

2. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak headed off a Conservative revolt over his flagship Rwanda migration bill last night but only after pleading and arm-twisting right-wing rebels in his party. The House of Commons voted by 313 to 269 to back the legislation in principle, but here’s why Sunak isn’t out of the woods yet.

3. A UK government drive to cut settlement times for trades has been stalled by divisions in the City of London over whether to align the new rules with the US or the EU. A task force appointed by the Treasury is struggling to agree on a date to cut the time for finalising deals, according to people with direct knowledge of the talks. Read the full story.

• Public spending: The UK government has been unable to demonstrate taxpayers were getting value for money from the £259bn spent on public procurement in 2021-22, according to a cross-party group of MPs.

4. Argentina’s new libertarian government will halve the value of the peso, cut spending and reduce energy and transport subsidies as it battles to contain an economic crisis and spiralling inflation. Economy minister Luis Caputo summarised the measures in the first major announcement by Javier Milei’s government since the president took office on Sunday. Here’s more from the televised message.

5. Exclusive: Metro Bank has suspended its bid to secure regulatory sign-off on risk models that it said would turbocharge profitability. The UK challenger bank has quietly shelved efforts to seek permission from the Bank of England to use its own internal calculations to model for risk. Here’s why the bank has scrapped the plans.

The Big Read

The success of the United Auto Workers union in raising wages at three carmakers speaks to a rising assertiveness in the US labour movement. More than 485,000 workers went on strike this year as unions launched an estimated 317 work stoppages, more than any time in the past two decades. After years of decline, labour organisers believe the political momentum has shifted in their direction. But are they overplaying their hand?

We’re also reading . . . 

• Guyana: With the looming threat of annexation by neighbouring Venezuela, Guyana will defend itself “by all and any means”, the nation’s vice-president Bharrat Jagdeo told the Financial Times.

• Western condescension: It’s time for the west and the rest of the world to talk to each other as equals, writes former Singaporean diplomat Kishore Mahbubani.

• Unlikely hero: Public support has swelled for a 70-year-old taxi driver after Iranian authorities cracked down on his viral dancing videos for being anti-Islamic.

• Stocks vs bonds: Historical returns have fuelled the belief that equities outperform bonds in the long run, but extrapolation carries dangers, writes Toby Nangle.

Chart of the day

The UK has for too long settled for managing stagnation. With a poisonous combination of stalled productivity and high inequality dragging down household incomes and sapping public confidence, how can the country be put in the right direction? Martin Wolf offers a shockingly un-English answer: an economic strategy.

Take a break from the news

Four years after it was razed in a bushfire, Australia’s Southern Ocean Lodge has risen from the ashes and welcomed its first guests last week. The FT’s Maria Shollenbarger recounts the emotional reopening of the celebrated wilderness lodge on Kangaroo Island.

Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and Gordon Smith