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European Edition
27th September 2021
 
THE HOT STORY
French shipbuilding town hit by loss of Australian submarine order
Reuters reports on how the French shipbuilding town of Cherbourg is in shock following the cancellation of Australia’s deal with France's Naval Group to supply a dozen diesel-powered submarines. The Australian government is instead joining a security pact with the United States and Britain that would help it acquire U.S. nuclear-powered submarines. Australia's order accounted for 10% of the annual revenues of Naval Group, which unions say employs 3,400 people in Cherbourg. Sub-contractors provide hundreds more jobs locally. David Margueritte, vice-president of the Normandy regional authority, observed: "There will be economic repercussions, there's no hiding from it, but they will be cushioned by the fact that Naval Group has strong orders from the French state on its books."
LEGAL
Ex-Warburg senior manager is next to face cum-ex trial in Germany
Detlef M., a former managing director of Warburg Invest, the investment arm of M.M. Warburg & Co., has appeared in a court in Germany accused of participating in a so-called cum-ex scheme that lost the country €157m ($184m). Investors in cum-ex deals use short sales to earn duplicate tax refunds on dividend payments on German shares. Germany's top criminal court in a landmark case earlier this year said that such deals were illegal and criminal, and called them a “ blatant money grab.” The practice ended in Germany in 2012 when rules were overhauled, but it is estimated that the schemes have cost German taxpayers more than €10bn. The Washington Post answers some FAQs about cum-ex trades, noting that the practice was named after the Latin terms cum/ex, meaning with/without, because the stock was sold with, but delivered without, a dividend payment.
UBS sued over stress induced mental health issues
A trader is suing UBS claiming the “toxic” work environment at the bank’s London office and “punishing workload” caused his mental health to deteriorate. Simon Rope is claiming upwards of £200,000 for negligence over an anxiety disorder which was caused by “the stress to which he was subjected in” the London office, according to his lawyers. In April 2018, Mr. Rope made two trading mistakes that caused him to cry in front of colleagues, City A.M. reports. After the incident he was signed off work sick and has been considered unfit to return ever since.
HIRING
Over 10,000 temporary UK visas offered to hauliers and poultry workers
The UK government has confirmed that 10,500 temporary UK visas will be offered to foreign workers in an attempt to alleviate Britain’s lorry driver shortage. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said 5,000 fuel tanker and food lorry drivers will be eligible to work in the UK for three months, until Christmas Eve, with the scheme also extended to 5,500 poultry workers. Additionally, ministers are to write to almost a million drivers who hold an HGV licence, encouraging them back into the industry. The letter will set out the steps the haulage sector is taking to improve industry conditions, including increased wages, flexible working and fixed hours, according to the Department for Transport. Mr Shapps said: "We are acting now, but the industries must also play their part with working conditions continuing to improve and the deserved salary increases continuing to be maintained in order for companies to retain new drivers.”
LVMH targets workers under the age of 30
LVMH has outlined plans to recruit 25,000 people under the age of 30 by the end of 2022, including 5,000 people through internships or apprenticeships, as well as 2,500 through permanent employment contracts in France. The company is also opening up access to its educational platform, insidelvmh.com. Users can complete modules to learn how the company works and boost their CV. Chantal Gaemperle, the group's director of HR and synergies, said: "At a time when the COVID-19 crisis has particularly affected the younger generations and impacted their employability, LVMH intends to accompany and support them in a concrete way to build their careers."
REMOTE WORKING
Pandemic skewed view of remote work
Dr. Alexandra Samuel, a technology researcher who has worked remotely for 18 years, says remote working during a pandemic is not necessarily indicative of remote working per se. She writes: “For those who look at the past year and a half and say they aren’t cut out for remote work, my advice is not to throw in the towel just yet. Maybe it wasn’t remote work you hated. Maybe it was the pandemic.”
TECHNOLOGY
Pandemic was proof of concept for automation of routine office jobs
The pandemic has acted as proof of concept for the adoption of software robots designed to ease routine office work and paved the way for corporate technology leaders to make the case for expanding their robotic process automation efforts, reports the Wall Street Journal. Daniel Dines, UiPath’s co-founder and chief executive, says: “Widespread adoption requires cooperation between CIOs and line-of-business leaders . . . And this technology has been proven in the past two years.” Up to 40% of organisations world-wide increased their use of robotic process automation in response to the pandemic, according to estimates from technology research firm International Data Corp.
Robots replace humans as labour shortages bite
Logistics and delivery companies are automating their businesses to tackle labour shortages as the monotony of some jobs makes recruiting and retaining workers harder, and customer orders become increasingly complex.
TAX
Janet Yellen urges Irish finance minister to take global tax deal
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has urged Paschal Donohoe, Ireland's finance minister, to take a “once in a generation opportunity” for a global deal that would stop a race to the bottom on corporate tax rates. Despite pressure from Ms. Yellen and European Union officials, Ireland has not wavered in its opposition as an October deadline approaches to finalize a deal for a global minimum tax of at least 15%, well above its 12.5% rate. Ms. Yellen, during a call with Mr. Donohoe, “expressed appreciation for Ireland’s constructive participation” in the OECD tax reform talks, and the two ministers agreed to keep in close communication on the issue, the Treasury said in a statement. “Secretary Yellen emphasized the goal of stabilizing the international tax system and stopping the race to the bottom through this once in a generation opportunity offered by the OECD Inclusive Framework,” the Treasury added.
RISK
ECB announces new inspections and climate risks
The European Central Bank (ECB) is planning new inspections at the banks it supervises to check their technology and their ability to generate profits, the ECB's top supervisor Andrea Enria has said. Separately, an ECB study warns that banks in southern Europe are most exposed to physical risks stemming from climate change. "While European countries are similarly exposed to transition risk when looking at tail firms ... there are a few countries that show exceptional vulnerability to high physical risk," the ECB said.
PSYCHOLOGY
The risks of trying to be funny in the workplace
Research has found that women are seen as more likeable and competent than men after similar failed attempts at humour, write Dr. Taly Reich, an associate professor of marketing at the Yale School of Management, and Dr. Sam J. Maglio, an associate professor of marketing and psychology at the Rotman School of Management and the University of Toronto Scarborough. When bad jokes are told in the workplace, observers are more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to a woman than to a man, the research suggests. “Even when jokes go south, people think that women are being more attentive to their audience than are men,” the authors write.
STRATEGY
Russia's Wildberries enters Baltic countries
Wildberries, one of Russia’s largest online retailers, is entering Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia as part of its international expansion. The Moscow-based firm, which will offer about 10m products from 50,000 brands in the Baltic countries, said the items will be delivered using logistics partners via pickup points or courier services. Wildberries now operates in 17 countries, branching out into seven new markets so far this year, including the United States, France and Germany.
INTERNATIONAL
Call to ban unvaccinated shoppers from malls
Premier Investments, owner of Australian retail brands including Peter Alexander, Portmans, Smiggle, Jacqui E, Dotti, Jay Jays and Just Jeans, almost doubled its profits to A$271.8m in fiscal 2021. Revenue rose 18.7% to A$1.4bn, with online sales of A$300m accounting for over 20% of total sales. Having delivered the results, Premier chairman Solomon Lew went on to call on shopping centre owners and federal and state governments to ban unvaccinated shoppers from malls around the country to protect staff and customers. “The centre owners have an absolute responsibility to ensure that the venue is not only safe for the entire family shopping experience, but to ensure that our retail staff have nothing to fear by trying to earn a living working in retail stores”, he said. “I look forward to sitting down at some point in time and having my snack in the food court."
OTHER
EU seeks common charger for all phones
The European Union has unveiled plans to make USB-C connectors the standard charging port for all smartphones, tablets and other electronic devices sold across the region, an initiative that it says will reduce environmental waste but that is likely to hit Apple the hardest. The US firm, whose iPhones are equipped with a different port, argues that such a move would stifle innovation and lead to more electronic waste as all current chargers that are not USB-C would become obsolete. EU citizens own three mobile phone chargers on average, according to the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm.

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