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

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered that assets belonging to food company Nestlé and retail group Auchan in Russia be placed under temporary administration. In a decree published on Russia's official legal portal, Putin ordered stakes in the assets to be handed to a little known entity called AO L.E.V. Menedzhment. Moscow has used the temporary-management mechanism since 2023 to take control of assets belonging to companies from countries it considers “unfriendly.”  It has previously been used to take control of the Russian subsidiaries of ‌companies including ⁠Danone and Carlsberg. Nestlé, arguing that as a food producer it supplies essential goods, has continued operating in Russia. Auchan operates 230 supermarkets and hypermarkets across Russia.

 

Copenhagen Post

Kyiv Independent

Bloomberg

Reuters

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched an investigation into Euro Exchange Securities (EES) for potential anti-money laundering (AML) failures. The City watchdog suspects that EES did not adequately assess money laundering risks related to its customers and operations. Issues include customer due diligence and internal governance. The FCA noted that EES provided unreadable and unstructured client files, complicating the investigation. The watchdog halted EES's operations in June, citing unacceptable money-laundering risks.

 

The Times

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has taken action against suspected illegal peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading in London, targeting three premises believed to be operating unregistered crypto businesses. Working with tax officials and police under money laundering and terrorist financing regulations, the regulator issued cease and desist letters at all three sites. The FCA warned that unregistered peer-to-peer crypto businesses could be used to move and launder illicit funds, and said there are currently no registered peer-to-peer crypto trading businesses operating in Britain.

 

Reuters

The US Justice Department has indicted five suspected Russian intelligence operatives for allegedly plotting attacks against perceived enemies of the Kremlin, including a murder-for-hire scheme targeting a prominent dissident in the US. The indictment describes the defendants as part of a network that "is one arm of the Russian Federation's apparatus used to carry out external attacks." Among the accused are Yuri Khrameev, a former colonel in the Russian intelligence service, and his son, Kirill Khrameev. The charges include conspiracy to finance terrorism and murder-for-hire. The indictment details efforts since 2024 to recruit individuals for targeted killings, including a plot involving a Venezuelan citizen in Brooklyn and a US citizen in Lithuania. Attorney General Todd Blanche highlighted the importance of stopping adversaries from "unleashing violence and terror on American soil."

 

NPR / National Public Radio

President Donald Trump has warned that allowing Canada to become an associate member of the European Union could constitute a “hostile act,” threatening to impose significant additional tariffs or restrict US trade with Europe if he believes the move is made with “bad intention.” His comments followed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s pledge to pursue closer ties with Canada, potentially making it the EU’s first associate member. The warning comes amid escalating US-Canada trade tensions. Trump has ordered restrictions on imports of Canadian dairy products, alcoholic beverages, and motorcycles, while adjusting existing 50% tariffs on other Canadian goods.

 

CNBC

Euronews

Politico

Wall Street Journal

Iron ore trader Radiant World and Sapphire Minmetals have filed a lawsuit ​in Singapore against London-listed miner Glencore, claiming $2bn in damages. Glencore had accused Radiant World and associated companies of sending falsified invoices to lenders. The miner directly accused the companies of fraud, saying it had “confirmed evidence” that they had “sent falsified invoices and contracts as well as fabricated emails, which they fraudulently claimed to have received from Glencore personnel, to a number of financial institutions.” Bloomberg says the respective claims “mark an explosive end to a business relationship that for many years was extremely close.” 

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Rachida Dati, France's former culture minister, is set to stand trial on corruption charges linked to her dealings with the Renault-Nissan group. Dati faces accusations of accepting €900,000 in fees while lobbying for the company during her time as a member of the European Parliament. She denies the allegations and claims she worked solely as a lawyer. "Unfounded allegations of influence peddling in the European Parliament stem from an artificial intellectual construct devised by the prosecution," Dati's lawyers said. If convicted, Dati could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of €450,000. Her co-defendant, Carlos Ghosn, will be tried in absentia; he remains a fugitive in Lebanon.

 

France 24

The Local

Bosch labour representatives are calling for the drafting of EU regulations to promote local production to stem job losses ‌in the auto supply sector.  "The transformation of our industry will only ​succeed if we keep value creation ​and jobs in Europe," said Frank Sell, ⁠head of the general works council ​at the firm's Mobility unit, which represents around 70,000 workers in Germany. He called for "clear 'Made in the EU' rules that give us the time we need to work together to ​become competitive." Bosch plans to shed 13,000 jobs in its core automotive business by the end of the decade.

 

Reuters

A memo ‌seen by Reuters indicates that Unilever "refuses to engage" with union body IUF over a request that a two-year employment guarantee agreed with workers in Europe under its planned merger with McCormick ​be applied to all staff worldwide. "The company refuses to engage ⁠on this at an international level," the IUF stated in the memo, adding: "(Unilever) has indicated ​that, outside of Europe, unions should negotiate locally or regionally over the two years' protection." A Unilever ​spokesperson said: "We continue to engage constructively with our works councils and other employee representatives and have made good progress . . . As a global company, we engage with a range of representatives around the world."

 

Reuters

Thousands of Barclays employees have signed an open letter asking the bank to rethink its decision to increase in-office work. As of next month, Barclays wants staff who have been expected to be in the office for two days per week to attend for at least three. The Unite union, which represents 36,000 staff, is calling on Barclays to reverse this mandate and is advocating for exemptions and a one-off payment to cover rising travel and childcare costs. Rick Coyle, Unite national officer, said that employees are delivering strong financial results under the current flexible working policy.  He said that Barclays is "trying to fix a problem that doesn't exist" in making its working-from-home rules less flexible. Barclays said office requirements vary by business area and are intended to balance flexibility with the benefits of working together in person. The bank declined to say how many staff would be affected by the rules change, but the BBC understands that there are different rules depending on teams, with, for example, investment bankers expected to be in the office for five days per week.

 

BBC News

Daily Mail

The Daily Telegraph

The Guardian

The Times

German sportswear manufacturer Adidas is cutting roles in its technology ​team in ​India. "The ​impact of these ​changes is less than 20% of our India Technology ​organisation," the company ​said. Adidas did not say how many jobs were affected. The company's ​website ​indicates that ⁠nearly 650 people worked at ​its Gurgaon and ​Chennai ⁠hubs.

 

Reuters

Polish technology company Booksy is to reduce its workforce by about 20%, equating to roughly 200 jobs, as it transitions to an AI-first operating model. CEO and co-founder Stefan Batory said: "AI tools are changing how the company works." Founded in 2014, Booksy serves around 350,000 customers across various markets, including the US and Europe. The company has raised $120m from investors and is focusing on profitability while aiming for organic growth of 40% to 50% annually. Booksy said it plans to expand primarily in existing markets.

 

Warsaw Business Journal

Germany's wholesale prices rose 6.8% year-on-year in August, their fastest increase since February 2023, and were up 0.9% month-on-month, driven largely by higher energy and raw material costs linked to the conflict in Iran and the Middle East. Petroleum product prices surged 36.1% year-on-year and chemical products rose 13.6%, adding to inflationary pressures as German consumer inflation reached 2.9% in August, above the European Central Bank’s 2% target. The rise in energy costs has also contributed to renewed concerns at the ECB, which raised interest rates for the second time this year and increased several of its inflation forecasts.

 

Reuters

Paul Nowak, General Secretary of the UK's Trades Union Congress (TUC), has been appointed as a non-executive director of the Bank of England's Court of Directors. Nowak has called for banks to "pay their fair share of tax on their mega profits." A TUC spokesman said: "Paul . . . looks forward to helping bringing the perspective of working people into the work of the BoE."

 

Daily Mail

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, whose eponymous ‌foundation focuses on global health ‌and the world's poorest people, has said that vaccine hesitancy in wealthy nations has made eradicating measles in such countries a distant goal. He observed that while measles was once nearly eliminated  in affluent countries, recent years have seen a resurgence in cases due to declining vaccination rates. Gates nevertheless said that vaccine hesitancy had not spread to lower-income countries, where measles can be ⁠much deadlier. “There's always that concern that ⁠if you have doubters in the US, that becomes a global thing . . . But we haven't seen an increase in vaccine hesitancy in the countries the foundation works in,” he said.

 

U.S. News