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

Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, has expressed concern about the potential for misunderstanding regarding liability when AI agents mishandle financial transactions. Speaking at a G30 conference in Bangkok, he pointed to the need for regulators to address the "agentic issue" as AI's role in financial operations grows. Bailey added that effective model testing is crucial for risk management while the cyber-risk threat to the financial sector is "absolutely" urgent, echoing concerns raised by Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF. Meanwhile, the FT reports that G7 finance ministers are planning emergency drills to combat potential cyber-attacks on the financial sector, driven by concerns over AI risks.  

 

Financial Times

The Times

Reuters reports that JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank are among global finance firms that are allowing their Saudi Arabia-based employees to work remotely following escalating Houthi strikes ​in the kingdom. Citi last week said that it was allowing staff to work from home. "The ​safety of our employees and the families of our employees have always been our ​top priority," Citi finance chief Gonzalo Luchetti explained. Reuters has previously reported that Saudi Arabia plans to shift its flagship ⁠Future Investment ​Initiative conference later this month to a hybrid ​event.

 

Reuters

Profit warnings among UK-listed companies have surged to their highest level in nearly two years, with 65 warnings issued in Q3 2026, according to EY. Nearly 20% of UK firms have warned on profits over the past year, primarily due to rising costs and geopolitical tensions, particularly the Iran conflict. Housebuilders are the most affected, issuing 14 warnings this year, surpassing the peak during the 2008 financial crisis. Jo Robinson, an EY-Parthenon partner, said: "The pace of policy change is making forecasting, investment and capital allocation much harder."

 

Daily Mail

The Guardian

The Times

The Daily Telegraph

Rachel Reeves held talks with UBS chairman Colm Kelleher when she was finance minister about the possibility of moving the bank's legal headquarters and listing to the UK if it were to redomicile, according to the FT. UBS is reportedly working on contingency plans should Swiss lawmakers introduce new banking rules it deems excessively strict.

 

Financial Times

The Times

Microsoft has withdrawn from Nscale's planned AI datacentre in Loughton, Essex, citing concerns over electricity supplies. Deemed Britain’s largest AI datacentre by ministers when announced in 2025, the development was due to open next year. Microsoft’s departure as its expected anchor tenant delivers another setback, following last month's disclosure that power supply problems would substantially delay the much-heralded project’s launch, raising further questions about when it can become fully operational.

 

The Guardian

Lufthansa is considering selling software assets valued at nearly €1bn. The airline aims to focus on its core passenger and cargo services amid rising costs in the aviation sector.

 

Financial Times

China has proposed adding AI, biopharmaceuticals, and photovoltaic technologies to its export control list, expanding it by 40 technologies. Beijing clarified that the initiative is not aimed at any specific country but is part of routine technology trade management. 

 

Financial Times

The Independent

Russia has seized control of the Russian assets of four European companies from France, Germany, Sweden and Belgium in retaliation for Western support for Ukraine. A decree signed by President Vladimir Putin named flooring manufacturer Tarkett, packaging firms Menshen and Sverige International Holdings, and hygiene products maker Ontex, alongside assets owned by US group Sonoco’s Dutch subsidiary. The Kremlin said the companies’ countries of origin influenced the decision, citing the seizure of Russian property in Europe.

 

Reuters

Investors are at risk of losing nearly £1bn due to the collapse of mini-bond firms over the past 18 months, according to an analysis by the Times. These high-risk schemes, which have left debts totalling £990m, have surged despite the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) crackdown following the £237m failure of London Capital & Finance in 2019. The FCA warned in August against investing in unregulated loan note firms, labelling them "potential scams." Five of the seven failed schemes are accused of being unlawful Ponzi scams, with significant losses expected for investors.

 

The Times

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned rioting during cost-of-living demonstrations. "Demonstrating is a right, but setting our cities on fire is not," Meloni said. The violence which broke out during the protests left at least four police officers and 20 demonstrators injured in Milan. The unrest comes amid anger over high prices, stagnant real wages and a shortage of affordable housing. The Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) has announced a general strike for November 20.

 

Deutsche Welle (EN)

The Mexican government has urged Volkswagen and ​workers at the car maker's assembly plant in the ‌east-central state of Puebla to resume negotiations following the rejection by members of the Automakers' Union ​of a proposed 13.16% across-the-board wage increase valid ⁠for two years. Over 5,600 ‌workers, ⁠representing 90.3% of the union's members, took part in a vote on the salary increase. Over 3,100 of ​them rejected ​the ⁠proposal. The facility in Puebla is one of the German company's biggest plants.

 

Reuters

Public sector trade unions in Ireland have called off strikes scheduled for Wednesday to begin mediated discussions with government ministers ​on terms ​for new pay talks. On Friday, the government said it it would enter a “focused and intensive exercise” with unions representing much of Ireland's ⁠public sector including teachers, health workers ​and civil servants, assisted by Workplace Relations Commission chair Kevin Foley, in a bid to agree a basis for formal negotiations on a new public sector wage deal. "I believe that there ​is now ​a prospect ⁠of progress in the process that has been established. ​Obviously we will need to ​see ⁠the government's words backed up in practice," said Kevin Callinan, chair of the ⁠Irish ​Congress of Trade ​Unions public services committee.

 

Irish Times

Reuters

Workers at the former Ilva steel plant in Taranto, southern Italy, have suspended five ​days of strikes and roadblocks that disrupted fuel ​deliveries across the Puglia region after the ‌government agreed to hold fresh talks on the future of the facility. "We are looking forward ​to the meeting with the government on October 27. The suspension of the strike is only temporary because ​there are still no solutions, but we ​want to negotiate," said FION trade union representative Giovanni Lippolis. The ​workers' actions are aimed at a government plan that it is said ⁠would leave thousands reliant on furlough schemes instead ​of providing a long-term industrial solution, Reuters reports.

 

Reuters