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New research by FICO has warned that financial institutions across EMEA are facing increasingly sophisticated fraud as criminals adopt generative and agentic AI for social engineering, synthetic identities and deepfake-enabled attacks. Among surveyed fraud, risk and technology professionals, 52% of EMEA institutions identified growing fraud complexity as their leading prevention challenge, while 48% highlighted effective AI integration. More than a third said fraud attempts had risen by over 25% in two years, while 51% reported false-positive rates above 15%. FICO’s Adam Davies said: “The next 24 months will be defined by orchestration, not by any single piece of technology.” FICO recommends moving AI from pilots into production, connecting models and intelligence sources across organisations, prioritising investments according to risk and financial impact, and treating fraud prevention and customer experience as interconnected.  

 

City A.M.

Your Vendor's Risk Is Now Your Risk

Third parties are now responsible for more than half of all data breaches, and the regulatory net keeps closing. DORA, GDPR, NYDFS, and a growing list of national frameworks all say the same thing, you cannot outsource liability.

This guide walks through the five principles of modern vendor risk management, the five-stage oversight lifecycle, and the red flags to catch before a vendor relationship becomes a liability.

It is built for risk, compliance, and procurement leaders who need a practical framework, not another static questionnaire that goes stale the moment it is filed.

Get the Guide

 

More than 400,000 Brazilian claimants from the 2015 Mariana dam disaster could face potential liabilities exceeding £2bn if their legal representation changes, the High Court heard. Pogust Goodhead, now PGMBM Law, is challenging a decision by a 17-member client committee to transfer instructions to Bailey Glasser. PGMBM argues that terminating its collective conditional fee agreement could expose claimants to basic charges and disbursements if the switch is handled incorrectly. The firm stressed that the £2bn figure is “not a bill from PGMBM” but a potential consequence of mass termination. A lawyer for committee chairman Marcelo Krenak maintains that members had authority to terminate the agreement and appoint Bailey Glasser. The dispute follows a ruling that BHP was liable for the dam collapse, with damages proceedings scheduled for next year.

 

The Times

MPs are calling for an inquiry into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following the death of Simon Andriesz, a whistleblower in the Jeffrey Epstein case. Andriesz reportedly took his own life after raising concerns about Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, and his ties to Epstein. The all-party parliamentary group on investment fraud stated that Andriesz had sought help from the FCA, fearing retaliation. John McDonnell, chair of the group, noted that Andriesz had acted responsibly by speaking out. The FCA has initiated an internal review of its processes in light of this incident.

 

The Times

The FT reports that documents reveal British businessman Michael Donald's involvement with Kremlin-linked A7, a money-laundering operation, amid extensive US sanctions and ties to fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor.

 

Financial Times

Google faces a £1.2bn lawsuit in the UK, alleging overcharging Android users for downloads, with potential compensation for 20 million consumers if successful.

 

Financial Times

The Financial Reporting Council is reviewing governance rules for major UK audit firms as private-equity investment and stock-market listings reshape ownership structures. The regulator is examining whether these models create conflicts, weaken independence or complicate oversight. Existing requirements already require firms to notify the FRC of material ownership or governance changes, with reviews assessing auditor control, ethical compliance and public-interest safeguards. "The audit firm governance code was designed for a particular point in time and a particular partnership structure. We’re seeing that develop, so we need to make sure that we develop our code and guidance accordingly," the FRC’s head of supervision Anthony Barrett told the FT.

 

Bloomberg Law

Bloomberg Tax

Financial Times

UK businesses are reducing their spending on public relations and consultancy services, with only 4.2% investing in these areas in September, according to City AM's Business Spend Pulse. This decline comes despite a 3.1% year-on-year increase in overall spending. The consulting sector experienced the largest cut, down nearly 4%. Meanwhile, spending on AI services surged, with one in seven businesses investing in AI tools, particularly benefiting Anthropic, which captured half of the AI spending. Damian Brychcy, CEO of Capital on Tap, noted that established businesses are increasing discretionary spending for growth.

 

City A.M.

Offshore workers on several North Sea platforms are set to strike due to a pay and conditions dispute with the Wood Group. The Unite and RMT unions claim the company is threatening to implement fire-and-rehire tactics. Strikes will occur over six days, starting with a two-day walkout on October 6 and 7. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Unite will not allow the Wood Group to slash and burn our members' pay and conditions." RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey noted that members are defending their existing terms and conditions against corporate threats.

 

Daily Mail

BT has acquired TalkTalk and its wholesale arm, PlatformX Communications (PXC), out of administration, preventing the collapse of services for 2.5m customers. The deal, which is debt-free, is expected to impact BT's finances by £400m due to transaction fees and losses. BT said the acquisition provides "immediate reassurance" for TalkTalk’s employees and its 1.5m retail and 1m wholesale customers. The Government had decided that if TalkTalk services failed, there would be a genuine risk to life and public services. However, Virgin Media O2 called the deal "a stitch up masked as a rescue deal in the public interest."

 

Financial Times

City AM

The Independent UK

Sainsbury's held preliminary talks with Morrisons about a potential merger between November 2025 and February, but discussions have since ended, according to reports. The combination would have created a grocery giant with a 23.6% market share, behind Tesco but ahead of Asda and Aldi. Sainsbury's previously abandoned a £7.3bn bid for Asda after the Competition and Markets Authority blocked the deal over competition concerns.

 

Sky News

Financial Times

The Daily Telegraph

Daily Express

Daily Mail

The Guardian

The I

The Times

London experienced a significant power cut affecting 32 postcodes, disrupting businesses and essential services. UK Power Networks reported a fault on an underground cable, leading to over an hour of lost electricity. Gabriella Edghill, a geospatial analyst at Rebalance Earth, warned of potential "cascading impacts" on businesses, including revenue loss and supply chain disruptions. Muniya Barua, deputy chief executive at BusinessLDN, emphasised the need for reliable energy supplies to support growth. The outage also impacted transport networks, with some traffic signals and CCTV affected.

 

London Evening Standard

The US Department of Defence has officially ceased using Anthropic's AI tools, following a designation of the company as a "supply chain risk" to national security. Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth announced the decision in February, with a deadline set for late August. Despite this, sources indicated that Anthropic's Claude model was still in use for military operations until recently. The Pentagon's integration of Claude into its Maven Smart System complicated its removal. Anthropic has since challenged the Pentagon's designation, claiming it is "unprecedented and unlawful".

 

BBC News

Researchers at Mindgard have discovered that two Chinese AI models, Kimi K2.6 and K3 Swarm, can be manipulated to bypass safety measures. During a 'jailbreaking' test, the models provided instructions on creating sarin gas, generating malware, and planning terrorist attacks, including on the London Underground. Mindgard founder Peter Garraghan noted that K2.6 can execute Python code, enabling both benign and malicious actions. Despite alerting Moonshot about these vulnerabilities, Mindgard received no response until contacted by the BBC. Garraghan warned that while AI capabilities can be beneficial, they also facilitate criminal activities.

 

Daily Mail

Small businesses are urging the government for increased support to combat rising AI-driven scams and cyber crime. Ahead of a parliamentary inquiry, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia highlighted that 81% of businesses feel more vulnerable to sophisticated scams due to AI. Additionally, 32% admitted to unsafe practices with generative AI tools. Chief executive Skye Cappuccio called for urgent, clear guidance on safe AI adoption. The average cost of a cyber incident has risen to $56,600, further stressing the need for tailored training and resources for small businesses.

 

Daily Mail

Bristol City Council confirmed a cyber attack on its Trading with Schools service, affecting 87 schools. The council detected suspicious activity on 21 September but did not shut down the system until 25 September. Council leader Tony Dyer said: "As soon as we understood the nature of the threat, we took the decision to disconnect affected schools from the internet." While no evidence of mass data theft has been found, experts warn that four days is a significant duration for malicious software to remain undetected. Recovery efforts are ongoing.

 

BBC News