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The Inspector General (IG), the Federal Reserve’s internal watchdog, is urging the central bank to strengthen how it protects employees and information ​during periods of international travel where foreign intelligence agencies might ‌be operational. The IG said the Fed currently lacks a formal program to prepare staff for international travel and does not make checks after staff trips to investigate whether anything suspicious has occurred. The central bank does not have ⁠a program to track employee foreign travel or to share risk assessments, ​and it does not have the tools to make sure staff comply with ​foreign travel rules, the watchdog said.

 

Reuters

Policy language is being debated by insurers as they consider updating provisions to reflect that clashes - not necessarily acts of war - between the world’s biggest powers are becoming more routine.

 

Financial Times

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has appointed George G. Demos as director of its Division of Enforcement and Investigations, where he will oversee investigations and enforcement actions involving potential violations of PCAOB rules, professional standards, and applicable securities regulations. Demos brings extensive regulatory and legal experience to the role, having previously served as a litigation partner at DLA Piper LLP, senior counsel in the U.S. SEC’s Division of Enforcement, and an adjunct professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law. His appointment places him in charge of the PCAOB’s efforts to enforce audit and accounting standards and investigate potential misconduct within the public company auditing profession.

 

Bloomberg Tax

Amazon may face a ​U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit that could result ‌in civil penalties, following allegations that the e-commerce giant misled advertisers, The FTC has a possible ​complaint against Amazon as part of an ongoing ​investigation, Bloomberg has reported, citing people familiar with the ⁠matter. Several state attorneys general are also participating. The probe is focused in part on whether Amazon properly disclosed the terms and pricing related to its ads, including "sponsored listings" or "sponsored ads" that users see on Amazon's marketplace.

 

Bloomberg

Wall Street is warning U.S. regulators that plans to implement “Basel Endgame” global bank capital requirements will threaten liquidity in Treasury markets, urging them to rework proposals to manage market risk.

 

Financial Times

The Trump administration is to pay Chicago-based power producer Invenergy $765m to withdraw from four U.S. wind leases and invest instead in geothermal and fossil fuel projects. Under the agreement, Invenergy will “voluntarily terminate” its leases off the coast of Morro Bay, in the New York Bight, and two off the Gulf of Maine, and instead redirect the millions toward natural gas-fired power plants in Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri and geothermal power generation projects in the western U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

 

Financial Times

Los Angeles Times

Electric vehicle maker Rivian has laid off hundreds of employees in a bid to make the business profitable as it launches its key new vehicle, the R2 SUV. The cuts represent less than 2% of Rivian’s workforce, a spokesperson said. The company had about 15,200 employees at the end of last year. “We recently restructured a handful of teams within Rivian as we work to profitably scale our business,” Rivian said. The company laid off more than 600 workers in October, or roughly 4.5% of its workforce.

 

CNBC	Wall Street Journal

Employees of JPMorgan Chase in Hong Kong are now unable to access Anthropic’s AI models from a “drop-down” list of approved large language models (LLMs) available internally, the FT reports.

 

Financial Times

Lawmakers and witnesses attending a U.S. congressional hearing have heard that China poses a threat to America's senior citizens through drug supply chains. “Fifty years ago, we never would have given the Soviets the kind of leeway we give China: the access they have to our economy and our information, the dependence they enjoy from our supply chains,” said Rick Scott, a Republican senator from Florida. The hearing, titled “Counting the Cost: Communist China's Toll on Older Americans' Health, Finances and Security” examined issues affecting ageing Americans, including China's dominance in pharmaceutical ingredients, and also global drug supply chains. “China's weaponization of supply chains is not theoretical. China has made controlling global supply chains an explicit strategic goal,” said Chris Slevin, from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC).

 

South China Morning Post

Apple plans to raise prices on some of its products as soaring memory and storage chip costs driven by artificial intelligence (AI) demand create unprecedented supply pressures, according to chief executive Tim Cook. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Cook said price increases had become “unavoidable” as the cost of DRAM memory and NAND storage chips has risen sharply due to growing demand from AI data centers operated by companies such as Google, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon. He described the situation as a “hundred-year flood” and said he had never witnessed a comparable commodity price shock during his four decades in the technology industry. While Apple did not specify which products would be affected or when increases would be implemented, analysts believe Macs, iPads and future iPhone models could face higher prices. Research estimates suggest maintaining current profit margins could add around $270 to the price of a high-end iPhone model.

 

Euronews

Wall Street Journal

BBC News

A court in Australia has banned former Star Entertainment CEO Matthias Bekier ​from managing companies for six years and fined him A$700,000 ($494,620) over failure to handle ‌money laundering risks at the casino operator. The judgment comes months after the Federal Court found Bekier and former chief legal and risk officer Paula Martin breached their duties ​by failing to sufficiently address risks at the company. Much of the judgment was devoted to the pair's self-serving statements which referred to the distress of the case but not the failings that brought it about. "Although both contraveners relied upon evidence of reputational harm, professional consequences and, in Ms Martin's case, physical and psychological conditions, there was very little evidence demonstrating developed insight into the seriousness of the contraventions themselves," Justice Lee said.

 

ABC News

Reuters

The Supreme Court has declined to hear Tata Consultancy Services' appeal regarding a $168m award to DXC Technology for the alleged stealing of trade secrets related to life-insurance software. Tata's appeal followed a lower court's decision that included $56m in compensatory damages and $112m in punitive damages. DXC's lawsuit, filed in 2019, claimed that Tata hired 2,200 former Transamerica employees to gain access to proprietary information. Despite Tata's denial of the allegations and claims that the information was not secret, a jury in 2023 recommended a $210m award, which was later reduced by U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr. DXC argued that the award was justified under U.S. law regarding unjust enrichment.

 

U.S. News

Outgoing CME Group chief executive Terry Duffy has told CNBC that the exchange operator will sue the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over ‌its approval for perpetual futures. Duffy, who announced his plans to step down from his role next year, has been critical of so-called "perps," which are listed derivatives without an expiration date that allow traders to maintain positions indefinitely without the need to roll ​over contracts. "I'm always up for a good battle. I've never shied away from ​one," Duffy said.

 

CNBC

AI is bifurcating the global labor market, according to a PwC study of data including over one billion job postings across 27 countries and territories. The technology is rewarding companies that use AI to enhance human skills, but those who use it merely to cut costs are being left behind, the study suggests. “The companies seeing the greatest returns on AI are using it to amplify human expertise, accelerate innovation and create entirely new sources of value,” observed Joe Atkinson, PwC’s global chief AI officer. “They’re pulling further ahead on productivity and growth than companies that focus primarily on automation.” Entry-level AI-exposed roles that require what have traditionally been senior human competencies, such as judgment, empathy, ethics, creativity and leadership, have grown 35% since 2019, while so-called “non-seniorized” entry-level positions, which don’t require such skills, have shrunk by 10%, PwC said.  

 

Bloomberg

A Los Angeles County civil grand jury has highlighted the deteriorating state of the L.A. Zoo, urging a shift to a public-private partnership for its survival. The jury's 2025-2026 report notes a significant decline in zoo membership, which dropped from 36,914 in April 2025 to 28,440 in February 2026, a 23% decrease. “Simply stated, to keep these important educational institutions afloat, almost all zoos across the United States have turned to public-private partnerships,” the jury said in its report. The zoo, which houses over 1,600 animals, has faced challenges in maintaining its national accreditation due to financial constraints and deteriorating facilities. The jury recommends that the city seek a new benefactor familiar with public-private partnerships by next April to ensure the zoo's legacy and future viability.

 

Los Angeles Times