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UK financial firms are sharpening their scrutiny of employee conduct ahead of new rules from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that are set to take effect on September 1. The changes, which will amend conduct rules and fitness-for-office tests to add serious, work-related bullying, harassment and violence against colleagues, clarify how firms should take non-financial misconduct into account when assessing employees' fitness and propriety. The new regime puts the onus on managers, rather ​than human resources departments, to identify, investigate and report potentially serious cases. Lawyers report that some companies are dismissing staff suspected of misconduct before the rules increase accountability. Wendy Saunders, a partner at law firm Lewis Silkin, ​says she has seen two or three instances where firms appeared to "dress up a minor conduct issue as non-financial misconduct" to dismiss an underperformer.

 

Reuters

 

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force, an ⁠intergovernmental anti-money laundering group, has said criminals are taking advantage of gaps in regulation to ​move billions in illicit proceeds through the ‌crypto sector. In its latest review into ​the role of virtual assets and ​illicit finance, the group said crypto-enabled crime ​had become more "complex and interconnected" in the past ​year, and national regulators, financial institutions and crypto companies face "significant and ongoing challenges" in detecting and stopping money-laundering ​flows coming from scam compounds and investment ​fraud networks.

 

Reuters

Chanel says it is co-operating with Italian authorities after its offices were searched by investigators probing allegations of labour exploitation in the luxury industry’s supply chain. Italian police on Thursday visited the ​headquarters of nine luxury brands, including Chanel, ​Moncler and Brunello Cucinelli, seeking documents related to ⁠governance and supply chain controls as part of an ​investigation into alleged worker exploitation at subcontractors. Italy's government has previously come to the defence of the country's luxury brands. Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said last year that the reputation of Italian brands was "under attack".

 

Euronews

Financial Times

Reuters

Boohoo has been hit with fresh legal claims worth about £10m from investors alleging senior executives knew the group was using Leicester sweatshops to make clothes. The case adds to the long-running financial and reputational fallout from the UK retailer's 2020 supply chain scandal, when allegations of low pay and unsafe conditions triggered an independent review and a sharp share price slump. Claimants are seeking compensation over alleged disclosure failures and weak corporate oversight, with former directors and current governance practices under scrutiny.

 

The Daily Telegraph

Europe faces an even tighter squeeze on helium supplies as China cuts off exports of the industrial gas that is vital for manufacturing microchips and the functioning of medical devices.

 

Financial Times

The EU is set to recommend a three-year delay on penalties for energy importers that do not comply with the bloc’s new methane emissions rules. The recommended delay would apply between 2027 and 2029, except for "cases of large-scale fraudulent breaches." Fossil fuel imports into the EU will have to comply with monitoring, reporting and verification requirements aimed at reducing methane emissions, with imports exceeding a methane-intensity threshold facing penalties by 2030. The US, Qatar and other gas-producing nations have warned the bloc that the regulation could jeopardise energy shipments.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

The UK Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) new short-selling data has come under fire for inaccuracies. Reports indicate errors such as unexplained changes, duplicate entries, and outdated positions. Breakout Point's analysis revealed that short positions against one company had vanished without explanation. Despite the issues, the FCA concluded there was "no need for any revisions" to the data, which relies on investor submissions.

 

Financial Times

City AM

Telecom Italia’s board has unanimously approved Poste Italiane’s voluntary public tender and exchange offer for all of the company’s shares. Poste became TIM’s largest single shareholder last year with a 20% stake in the company, and launched a bid in March for the shares it does not already own. “The board unanimously deemed the consideration offered fair from a financial point of view and positively assessed the rationale and business prospects of the operation and its consistency with the path undertaken by TIM,” the company said in a statement. Telecom Italia, which was once a state monopoly, was privatised in 1997.

 

CNBC	Financial Times

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has contributed to a significant increase in profit warnings among UK-listed companies, with 59 warnings issued in the first half of this year, up from 55 last year. According to the EY-Parthenon report, more than half of the warnings were due to policy changes and geopolitical uncertainty. Sectors including housebuilding, retail, and leisure have been particularly affected. London-listed housebuilding and construction firms posted eight profit warnings in the first half of 2026, including six in Q2. Jo Robinson, EY-Parthenon's financial restructuring leader, said: "Pressure and profit warnings are increasingly concentrated in sectors and businesses facing rising costs, cautious consumers and tighter credit conditions."

 

The Times

The Daily Telegraph

Germany’s cabinet has approved Labour Minister Bärbel Bas’s proposal allowing employees to test a potential new job for up to four weeks, or six weeks exceptionally, without immediately resigning or accepting a permanent offer. The “job-to-job trial” is designed to move skilled workers quickly from declining industries into sectors facing shortages. Bas said workers should be able to change industries “quickly and easily” when companies cut jobs. The legislation would also make digital communication standard for unemployment benefit recipients, ending the requirement to remain available for postal correspondence. Further measures include video access to employment agencies, digital-first applications and reduced workplace-safety administration, potentially removing up to 123,000 safety officer roles in smaller businesses. The package is expected to reduce annual bureaucracy costs by more than €720m.

 

Handelsblatt

The former owner of British Steel has said it will pursue the UK government for compensation after the loss-making firm was nationalised. The UK took control of the steelworks in northern England last year after China's Jingye Group said it planned to close the site because it was not financially viable, and fully nationalised the plant last week. In a statement, Jingye said it will seek "full compensation through legal means to the very end" over the UK's move. A government spokesperson said draft compensation regulations due to be released later this year will set out a compensation process through which an independent assessor "would determine what, if any, is payable."

 

BBC News

The Times

Giuseppe Lavazza, chair of Italian coffee roaster Lavazza, has said coffee drinkers are buying “less but better” as prices surge, fuelling demand for whole beans and bean-to-cup machines.

 

Financial Times