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Good morning from the newsroom of the Financial Times.

Today is Monday, September 9th,

and this is your FT news briefing.

A new study finds that more than a third of foreign direct investment

are moves by multinationals to dodge tax.

And dozens of British Airways flights set to go to the UK were grounded on Sunday ahead of

a two-day pilot strike.

Plus, the FT's Jim Picard previews what's coming up this week in UK politics

and what it could mean for Brexit.

I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day.

A big portion of the world's stock of foreign direct investment is considered phantom capital,

designed so multinationals can dodge taxes.

A study by the IMF and the University of Copenhagen found that about 40% of worldwide foreign

direct investment passes through empty corporate shells with, quote, no real business activities.

That comes to about $15 trillion, that, according to the study's researchers, is often meant to minimize multinational

companies tax bills. This is instead of financing more productive business.

According to the researchers, about half of this phantom foreign direct

investment was in Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Other popular areas included Malta, Ireland, Switzerland, as well as a number of British overseas territories and crown dependencies.

This study comes as many governments are trying to clamp down on corporate tax avoidance.

...