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

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg repeatedly said during a landmark Los Angeles trial over youth social media addiction that the Facebook and Instagram operator does not allow children under 13 on its platforms. Zuckerberg maintained that lawyers were "mischaracterising" communications in multiple internal documents which suggested they were a key demographic. Mark Lanier, a lawyer for the woman suing Instagram and Google's YouTube for harming her mental health when she was a child, pressed Zuckerberg over a statement to Congress in 2024 that users under 13 are not allowed on the platform. Zuckerberg also told the jury that he overruled concerns about teen wellbeing from 18 experts to lift a ban on Instagram beauty filters because he was concerned about “free expression.”

 

CNBC

CNN

Financial Times

Reuters

BBC News

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Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the younger brother of King Charles and the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, has been arrested at his U.K. home in a police raid, on suspicion of misconduct in public office following revelations about his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Thames Valley Police said it was “assessing” reports that the former Prince Andrew sent trade reports to Epstein in 2010. The former prince was a special representative for U.K. trade and investment between 2001 and 2011. He has always denied any wrongdoing in connection to his affiliation with Epstein, and said he regrets the friendship. Mountbatten-Windsor is the first senior royal in modern history to be arrested: King Charles I was arrested in 1647 during the English Civil War by forces aligned with parliament.

 

Time.com

CNBC

NBC News

Cryptocurrency flows to suspected human trafficking services, largely based in Southeast Asia, grew 85% in 2025, reaching a scale of hundreds of millions across identified services, according to a new report by U.S.-based blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis. The analysis tracked four primary categories of suspected cryptocurrency-facilitated human trafficking, including Telegram-based “labor placement” services that facilitate kidnapping and forced labor for scam compounds.

 

Chainalysis

CNBC

The European Commission has opened a formal investigation into Shein for breaching the bloc’s rules on digital platforms, including the sale of illegal products such as childlike sex dolls, and the platform’s “addictive design” and lack of transparency in its recommendation algorithms. The move comes amid broader EU efforts to tighten oversight of the vast number of low-cost goods shipped from China into the bloc. Brussels is fast-tracking new fees on small online packages and has previously fined Shein €40m ($47m) in France for misleading consumers over pricing and environmental claims. Pressure is also mounting on Shein over labor practices and its reliance on tariff exemptions for small parcels, factors that have complicated its stock market listing plans. While U.K. ministers have sought to attract Shein to list in London, regulatory scrutiny elsewhere in Europe continues to intensify.

 

France 24

Financial Times

Reuters

Securities and Exchange Commission chair Paul Atkins has said fewer senior corporate executives could be subject to extensive investor disclosures about their compensation under pending regulatory reforms. "I agree . . . that we should reconsider the number of executives for whom compensation information is provided," he said. Reuters notes that the remarks foreshadow proposals aimed at substantially reducing the burden companies face in complying with regulations for public companies, part of a general shift in the balance of power away from investors and back towards companies.

 

Reuters

The Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) has reported a surge in flood risks across the US. In its brief, "Flood Insurance: State of the Risk," Triple-I noted that many homeowners underestimate their flood risk, with 64% believing their properties are safe. Despite the growth of private flood insurance, over half of policies are still through the National Flood Insurance Program. Sean Kevelighan, Triple-I CEO, emphasised the importance of investing in flood insurance and mitigation measures to reduce future disaster costs.

 

Reinsurance news

Passports and other identity documents belonging to hundreds of attendees of Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW), Abu Dhabi’s flagship investment conference, have been exposed online. Scans of more than 700 such items, some belonging to prominent politicians and business leaders, were discovered on an unprotected cloud storage server associated with the state-sponsored event, which hosted more than 35,000 people in December. ADFW, in a statement to Reuters, said: "a vulnerability in a third-party vendor-managed storage environment relating to a limited subset of ADFW 2025 attendees . . . The environment was secured immediately upon identification, and our initial review indicates that access activity was limited to the researcher who identified the issue."

 

Financial Times

Middle East Eye

Reuters

A partner at KPMG Australia has been fined A$10,000 (US$7,000) for using artificial intelligence to cheat on an internal training exam on AI. The unnamed partner uploaded training materials to an AI platform to answer questions, violating company policy. Over two dozen KPMG Australia staff have been caught using AI tools to cheat on internal exams since July, according to the firm. Andrew Yates, chief executive of KPMG Australia, said: "Like most organizations, we have been grappling with the role and use of AI as it relates to internal training and testing. It's a very hard thing to get on top of given how quickly society has embraced it."

 

Financial Times

The Guardian

The Times

JPMorgan is in talks to provide banking services to the U.S.-led Board of Peace, an institution tasked with rebuilding Gaza, the Financial Times has reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

U.S. tariffs of up to 30% on South African agricultural goods are hurting the country’s wine and fruit producers, making exports less competitive in the American market, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The duties have made South African wine around 17 percentage points more expensive relative to other imports compared with 2024 prices. As a result, U.S. imports of affected goods fell 11% in the third quarter and 39% in the final quarter of the year. UNCTAD said the tariff regime is reshaping competitiveness unevenly across sectors and urged countries to diversify export markets and closely monitor their relative tariff positions.

 

Bloomberg

In late January, ten employees of a Canadian-owned silver and gold mine in Mexico were abducted. Five bodies have been located and five are awaiting identification. The incident has raised concerns about security measures promised by President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has faced criticism for her handling of cartel violence. "What these kinds of episodes do is demolish the federal government's narrative," said security analyst David Saucedo, who noted the ongoing conflict between rival factions of the Sinaloa cartel. Despite increased military presence, local residents remain fearful, with many having fled their homes. The mine's owner, Vizsla Silver Corp., has paused operations due to security issues. The search for the missing workers continues amid a backdrop of escalating violence and fear in the region.

 

The Baltimore Sun

Los Angeles Times

Sex workers at Sheri's Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, are striving to become the first unionized group in the U.S. They have submitted a petition to the National Labor Relations Board under the name United Brothel Workers. The push for unionization follows a controversial contract that grants the brothel control over workers' likenesses. “This is how you end up the face of a Japanese lubricant company without ever having signed a document," Jupiter Jetson, one of the workers, said. “This is how you end up finding yourself on a website offering AI companionship without ever seeing a penny.”

 

U.S. News