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

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has introduced immediate reforms to simplify listing rules, as the City watchdog looks to revitalise London's stock market. Key changes include removing the mandatory seven-day waiting period between publication of an approved prospectus and associated investment research, allowing issuers and their advisers to respond more quickly to market conditions. The FCA said the reforms are intended to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of UK capital markets while maintaining investor protections. Jon Relleen, director of infrastructure and exchanges at the FCA, said: "By making the UK listing regime more efficient, we are supporting the growth and competitiveness of UK capital markets." Inigo Esteve, partner at law firm White & Case, said the "sensible, targeted reforms . . . remove unnecessary friction from the UK IPO process," adding that the changes "demonstrate the FCA's continued willingness to refine the regulatory framework where it can improve the efficiency and competitiveness of London's public markets."

 

Daily Mail

The World Bank has called on developing countries to embrace AI tools to deliver better governance outcomes, warning that they risked being left behind if they failed to do so. "AI has thrown developing economies a lifeline, and they ⁠should seize it," Indermit Gill, the World Bank's chief economist said as the organisation launched its annual World Development Report. "They do not need large models or big data centres to reap its benefits," he added. "By adapting small, low-cost AI tools to local conditions, they can ​bring better medical care, education, judicial services and agricultural extension within reach of millions . . . AI could significantly boost that performance before the end of the 2020s while delivering tangible benefits to people." The report calls for countries to use the technology to "help extend otherwise costly medical, legal, educational, and agricultural services to underserved billions - doing in a decade what might otherwise take a century."

 

France 24

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Cybersecurity has overtaken geopolitical risk as the leading concern for chief executives, according to Aon finance chief Edmund Reese, who said executives are increasingly focused on managing multiple interconnected risks, including cyberattacks, geopolitical instability, AI investment, and talent shortages, rather than addressing individual threats in isolation. Reese said Aon is investing heavily in AI to improve productivity and client service, with AI-driven automation contributing 70 basis points of margin improvement in the second quarter. The company also said AI-enabled risk analysis tools have increased request-for-proposal win rates by 40%, supporting growth from new clients and expanded business with existing customers.

 

Fortune

London's Metropolitan Police have been criticised by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after it sent the address and phone number of a female stalking victim to the defendant. The UK's data watchdog ordered the force to urgently step up its data protection policies and training after failings in two cases. The ICO said the Met's policies were "weak" and had "serious shortcomings." One officer had not completed data protection training for more than four years before they broke data rules. The ICO's Jo Stones said: "Organisations, particularly those in the public sector handling sensitive law enforcement information, must have effective training, monitoring and assurance in place . . . Policies and reminders are not enough if they are not followed, checked and enforced. "

 

BBC News

The Times

EU financial watchdogs say they are seeing an increase in scams targeting crypto exchange customers since a deadline passed for such companies to gain a licence under new crypto rules.

 

Financial Times

Extreme heat is reducing productivity and increasing illnesses, with one study finding rising temperatures could be costing informal workers the equivalent of 2% of their country's GDP annually. "Wage losses are only going to worsen as temperatures continue to rise," observes Ameena Kidwai, lead researcher at People's Courage International, a US-based nonprofit organisation aiming to strengthen informal workers' rights. "Workers are now putting in many more hours than they did before to complete the same amount of work." Kidwai said the organisation's survey of informal workers in five Asian cities found that tasks once completed in eight hours now take 10 to 12 hours during the hottest months, as workers slow down to cope with dangerous heat that is becoming a major occupational hazard. Researchers say an inability to recover is a defining feature of urban heat for informal workers such as construction labourers, street vendors and delivery riders.

 

Deutsche Welle (EN)

Working beyond the state pension age of 67 is increasingly common in Dutch collective labour agreements, with 11 out of 214 agreements in 2026 allowing this. The shift is driven by staff shortages and an ageing population, according to Jannes van der Velde from the employers' association AWVN. The tight labour market “explains basically everything,” Van der Velde said. “Employers look: how valuable are these people still?” Older workers are often used as coaches for new colleagues, and high workloads at many companies frequently leave proper onboarding neglected.

 

NL Times

The Trump administration has banned imports from a further 43 Chinese companies over alleged rights abuses of Uyghur and other minority groups. The firms - operative in supply chains ‌from electronics to food and metals - were added to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List. It is the largest single ​expansion of the list since the act creating it was signed into law in 2021, and brings the number of mentioned entities to 187 from 144. "Today's action by the Trump administration strengthens America's economy against products made with slave labour," said Representative John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on China.

 

Reuters

Rabobank plans to invest up to €2bn over three years to enhance its IT infrastructure and data systems as the Dutch lender aims to increase its use of artificial intelligence. The investment may ultimately result in some job cuts, though the bank does not expect large-scale layoffs. "Artificial intelligence, data, and other new technologies are changing the way customers want to bank, and the work of our employees," CEO Stefaan Decraene said. The funds will also bolster the bank's digital resilience against cyber threats. Rabobank currently has approximately 48,000 employees, around 1,000 fewer than a year ago. The decline follows a period in which the bank expanded its workforce to bolster its anti-money laundering efforts.

 

NL Times

FTSE 100 property company Segro has agreed a £14.3bn takeover by US real estate giant Prologis, ending weeks of negotiations and marking another major London Stock Exchange exit. The deal values Segro at a 39% premium to its share price before the first approach, with shareholders receiving Prologis shares and a partial cash alternative. Both companies said the merger would strengthen their logistics and data centre operations, with completion expected in the first half of next year.

 

Financial Times

City AM

The Times

The Times

Spotify has reported second-quarter net income of €545m, below analysts' expectations of €587m, as increased spending on marketing and AI pushed operating expenses up 19% to €941m. While revenue rose to €4.8bn and paid subscribers increased by 7m to 300m, the company forecast 788m monthly active users for the current quarter, below analysts' expectations of 793m, raising concerns about slowing user growth. Spotify said its investments in AI-powered features and premium subscription offerings are intended to support long-term growth, but its shares fell more than 5% in pre-market trading following the results.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Los Angeles Times

The UK government is streamlining public procurement rules to make job creation and skills development the only social requirements for businesses competing to win Whitehall contracts. Ministers will ditch the requirement for companies to prove their green and progressive values - including net zero criteria - before they are awarded government contracts, and instead ask firms to prove they will help young people back into work. Louise Haigh, the first secretary of state, said: “For too long, securing government contracts has been a tick-box exercise that fails to deliver the positive change that people feel in their pocket and see in the places they live . . . We are doing things differently. These new rules will ensure the £90bn that is spent each year through government contracts supports British jobs, skills and people in every postcode.”

 

Financial Times

The Guardian

Mystery-parcel stores are becoming increasingly popular across the Netherlands and other European countries, offering customers the chance to buy unopened packages returned or left undelivered by online shoppers. For a small fee, customers choose parcels based on their weight and shape, then open them to discover anything from household goods to expensive electronics. The concept combines the excitement of gambling, bargain-hunting and social-media unboxing while giving unwanted packages a second life. Although shoppers are guaranteed to receive an item, consumer experts say the main attraction is the anticipation and possibility of finding something valuable.

 

Bloomberg