Risk Channel delivers the latest, most relevant and useful business intelligence to key decision makers and influencers, each weekday morning.

Apple and Google face new proposals from the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) aimed at increasing competition in the mobile app market by allowing developers to direct users to alternative payment methods outside the companies' app stores. The regulator said the pair operate an "effective duopoly", with more than 90% of UK mobile devices running on their platforms, and is consulting on measures that would reduce developers' reliance on app store payment systems, where commissions of up to 30% are charged. The CMA is also considering requiring Apple to open access to its near-field communication technology to enable third-party contactless payment services on iPhones.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

The Guardian

Bluecrest Capital Management has lost a court appeal regarding a £200m tax dispute with HMRC. The appeal centred on the interpretation of rules on the taxation of salaried members and how they applied to the investment firm, formed as a limited liability partnership in 2009. The UK's Supreme Court ruled that the firm's senior traders must be taxed as employees, not as self-employed, and were therefore liable to pay national insurance contributions. The decision could have significant implications for the UK's professional services sector, including the Big Four accountancy groups - KPMG, EY, Deloitte and PwC. Katie Illman, KPMG's tax partner, wrote on the firm's website in May that a ruling in favour of HMRC would have "potential implications, including significant back taxes."

 

Financial Times

City AM

The Times

Katherina Reiche, Germany’s energy minister, has urged the EU to suspend implementation of new rules on methane imports, after the US warned the proposed crackdown puts Europe’s gas supplies at risk. “We urgently need a reworking of the methane regulation,” Reiche said. “The methane regulation would prevent not only gas imports to Germany but also petroleum products from being imported from 2027.” She added: “We cannot put our security of supply at risk if the methane regulation remains in its current form,” as she called for a “postponement or an extension” of the rules.

 

E&E News

Financial Times

Getty Images has abandoned its £2.8bn merger with Shutterstock following a ruling from the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Getty said it would not comply with the CMA's condition to sell Shutterstock's editorial arm, which was necessary for the merger's approval. Getty's shares fell by 4%, while Shutterstock's stock dropped by 28%.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

The Times

Only 12% of crypto companies have won a license to operate under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, forcing 1,738 to cease their activities, prompting consolidation and customer transfers to compliant firms.

 

Financial Times

UK lender NatWest could face liabilities exceeding £250m due to allegations of facilitating unauthorised fund transfers for businessman Liam Kavanagh. The Royal Bank of Scotland, a NatWest subsidiary, is linked to the collapse of Rockfire Group, which sold risky solar farm bonds to UK local authority Thurrock Council. Liquidators are seeking £70m and £179m from RBS. Kavanagh allegedly misused funds for personal luxuries instead of company investments. The Serious Fraud Office is investigating the council's bankruptcy, which left £1.5bn in debt. NatWest plans to defend itself against the claims.

 

City AM

Financial Times

Germany's Bild newspaper has reported that Volkswagen plans to end its automated driving tie-up with auto supplier Bosch ​to develop ​software for driver assistance and autonomous driving across the carmaker's brands. Bild said Volkswagen plans to source hardware and ​software for ⁠such systems from a new partner, and a replacement is currently being chosen, with a contract planned by September.

 

Reuters

Microsoft plans to cut under 2.5% of its workforce in the latest round ​of layoffs that could be announced as early as ‌next week. The ​layoffs will impact thousands of roles, including sales and consulting, as ​well as jobs at the company's Xbox gaming division. Some affected employees will be offered new roles immediately, according to people familiar with the situation.

 

Business Insider

Companies investing most heavily in AI are adding workers faster than their peers, according to research from start-ups Ramp and Revelio Labs that challenges forecasts of broad AI-driven job losses. TechCrunch notes that the research data skews towards tech-forward, knowledge-work firms that are likely growing quickly anyway, making it difficult to say whether AI is contributing to hiring. “This paper does not show that AI universally creates jobs,” the paper’s authors write, “but it does counter claims that AI will lead to broad job losses.”

 

TechCrunch

Financial Times

Mercedes Benz has told its employees that it wants them to work longer hours for the ​same salary. "The cost per ​hour must decrease – in development, sales, administration, ​and production . . . we should work more for ⁠the same pay in all areas," ​CEO Olaf Kallenius wrote in a ​note to the German carmaker's employees. Mercedes' works council said employees are ​expected to bear ​the burden of the company's challenges - even though responsibility does not lie with them.

 

Reuters

Stellantis has notified the FIM ‌Cisl trade union of a stoppage at its Fiat 500 factory in Turin, northern Italy,​ from July 27 to 31, adding to a previously ⁠planned three-week summer downtime that was due to commence in ​August. The union said that it had been told that the extra week's break was due to parts shortages from some suppliers, and the stoppage may also reflect weak demand.

 

Reuters

Associated British Foods has warned that its sugar business is expected to post a loss of up to £60m this financial year after higher European gas prices linked to the Middle East conflict hit profitability, with the company also cautioning that trading conditions could deteriorate further in 2027. In a trading update, the group said Primark's third-quarter sales rose 3%, supported by new store openings and 16% growth in the US, although like-for-like sales fell 2.2% as weaker consumer demand weighed on performance in Europe and the UK.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

RTÉ

City AM

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, has said right-wing extremists remain the greatest threat to German democracy and their number increased by more than 8,000 to 58,700 last year. The report also noted that the number of individuals involved in left-wing extremism grew by 4,200 last year, reaching 42,200, and there was also a slight increase in the number of individuals involved in Islamism or "Islamist terrorism," to 28,645. German democracy was under "practically permanent attack" from both inside and outside, said Sinan Selen, the head of the agency. Intelligence activities against Germany originated primarily from Russia, China and Iran, it said.

 

Financial Times

BBC News

Global sustainability reporting is becoming increasingly standardized as more large companies adopt, or plan to adopt, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) framework and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), according to a study by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), AICPA, and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). The research, which reviewed approximately 1,400 companies across 22 jurisdictions, found that one-third of companies referenced ISSB standards in 2024, up from 16% the previous year, while about 20% said they use or plan to use ESRS. The study also found that sustainability reporting remains widespread, with 97% of companies providing some form of sustainability disclosure and 75% obtaining independent assurance over those disclosures, up from 73% in 2023. More companies are also integrating sustainability reporting into their annual reports, with the proportion rising to 76% in 2024 from 74% a year earlier.

 

The Accountant Online

Two junior EY employees have been accused of improperly accessing the bank account of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese while on secondment at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, according to people familiar with the matter. The employees, who joined EY in March, were subsequently dismissed after the alleged breach was discovered. Reports also indicate that the pair accessed the account of at least one EY partner before the bank alerted the firm. The Australian Federal Police have charged two men, ages 21 and 25, with unlawfully accessing restricted personal banking information belonging to a federal parliamentarian. The case is due to be heard in a Sydney court, while Commonwealth Bank and the prime minister's office have declined to comment on the incident.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

The Guardian