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

Swiss lender UBS has been fined €5m by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service for aiding clients in concealing undeclared savings from tax authorities. The case, which involves 12 clients, revealed that Credit Suisse - acquired by UBS in 2023 - filed 80 incorrect tax returns between 2005 and 2015. The investigation began in 2016, with prosecutors noting that Credit Suisse had previously assisted clients in using code names and setting up companies in tax-friendly jurisdictions. UBS said it has a zero-tolerance policy towards tax evasion and is satisfied to resolve the matter without admitting criminal liability.

 

NL Times

Begona Gómez, the wife of Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez, is to stand trial for influence peddling and misappropriation of public funds. The case centres on claims that Gómez used her relationship with the premier to advance her career and co-direct a programme at Madrid’s Complutense University, while also using public resources and government staff for private interests. Gómez denies wrongdoing.  The prime minister’s office said the decision was “an arbitrary and unjust investigation that is solely the result of the judicial persecution of Begoña Gómez . . . No criminal offence has been committed, and that will be demonstrated.”

 

Financial Times

Irish Times

Politico

International banks, including Standard Chartered and Citigroup, facilitated over $6.9bn in payments for A7, a Kremlin-backed fintech using extensive forgery and money laundering tactics.

 

Financial Times

Google has been fined €403m by Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) for mishandling location data. The fine follows a six-year investigation prompted by complaints from European consumer rights groups. The DPC found that Google processed location data unlawfully, unfairly, and without transparency between May 2018 and February 2020.

 

BBC News

Société Générale CEO Slawomir Krupa has told the FT that lenders are “so regulated and so supervised” that AI would not rapidly transform the banking industry.

 

Financial Times

Fraudsters attempted to steal at least $10m through Polymarket’s US platform earlier this year by placing bets with stolen debit cards. The prediction markets platform's payment processor at one point rejected more than 80% of the deposits it handled as fraudulent, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company's CEO, Shayne Coplan, reportedly downplayed the incident to employees, instructing them to focus on growth now and deal with regulatory fines later. Polymarket says it has since strengthened its infrastructure and leadership. An investigation by the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell concluded the company had complied with regulations, according to people familiar with the findings. Separately, the FT reports that Polymarket is convening with European regulators to make the case that it should be regulated under financial services laws instead of local gambling statutes.

 

Financial Times

Wall Street Journal

Police Major General Andrei Krayushkin has been appointed to oversee the Russian assets of Auchan, Nestlé, and Lemana PRO. He said he aims to protect the retailers from drone attacks and ensure their operations continue uninterrupted. Krayushkin stated: "Purchasing, deliveries, store operations and the fulfillment of obligations to customers, suppliers and employees must continue without interruption". The Russian government transferred the assets to L.E.V. Management amid increasing drone strikes targeting retail logistics. The assets are valued at over R600bn ($7.14bn).

 

The Moscow Times

Zurich's £8.1bn acquisition of Beazley has received approval from a High Court judge in the UK. The Swiss insurance firm announced the takeover in March, offering Beazley shareholders £13.35 per share. Following the deal, Beazley will be removed from the London Stock Exchange. Andrew Thornton KC, representing Beazley, said the company's directors unanimously supported the takeover, asserting it "would not have any adverse impact on the interests of the company's creditors."

 

The Daily Telegraph

The FT reports that staff at AI companies and institutions are suffering from the severe mental strain associated with working on systems they fear are unsafe for public release.

 

Financial Times

Job cuts at Danish pharmaceutical company Novo, previously known as Novo Nordisk, have ended up much larger than previously expected, with a total 13,000 full time jobs lost in the past year compared to the 9,000 previously forecast, as the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy falls behind rival Eli Lilly in the multibillion-dollar obesity-drug market.

 

Copenhagen Post

Financial Times

The Local (Denmark)

Google’s Gemini AI autonomously accessed three real companies’ systems during a cybersecurity test after being unintentionally given internet access. In one case, the model guessed a password, while two other breaches followed web searches that uncovered credentials in public repositories. Gemini stopped each intrusion after recognising it had accessed real rather than simulated systems. Google said no harm was caused and it does not consider the incidents examples of model misalignment because safety measures prompted the AI to stop. The company notified the affected businesses and federal authorities but did not publicly disclose the May incidents until approached by The Wall Street Journal. The episode follows similar cybersecurity testing incidents involving AI models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta.

 

The Wall Street Journal

Thailand's finance minister, Ekniti Nitithanprapas, says the demands of the job have cut his nightly sleep to about four hours, and weekly vitamin drips and daily supplements keep him going. “They help ease the fatigue,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg News. When he can, Ekniti, who was 55 last week, tries to claim one weekend day for himself, sleeping seven or eight hours and exercising before returning to work. He says such respite can be short-lived: “There always seems to be another crisis.”

 

Bloomberg