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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is looking into whether Microsoft and Amazon’s partnerships with AI start-ups fall within UK merger rules. The competition watchdog is considering the impact partnerships between Microsoft and Mistral AI, Amazon and Anthropic, and Microsoft’s hiring of key figures from Inflection AI could have on competition in the UK. Joel Bamford, executive director of mergers at the CMA, said: “While we remain open minded, and haven’t drawn any conclusions, our aim is to better understand the complex partnerships and arrangements at play.” He added: “Given the global nature of these markets, competition authorities around the world are actively looking into AI.” A spokesperson for Amazon said: "It's unprecedented for the CMA to review a collaboration of this type," while a spokesman for Microsoft commented: “We remain confident that common business practices such as the hiring of talent or making a fractional investment in an AI start-up promote competition and are not the same as a merger.” The Times Katie Prescott reports that some UK-based AI start-ups have privately expressed concern that the CMA’s intervention could have a "chilling effect on investment in their own businesses from the only companies with the technical and financial firepower to help them develop."

 

The Times

City AM

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The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has blocked more deals than its European counterpart over the past five years. Data from law firm Linklaters shows that the average deal mortality rate in the UK hit 57% between 2019 and 2023, while in the EU it stood at 41%. Verity Egerton-Doyle, a partner in Linklaters’ antitrust and foreign investment team, said that while outcomes are “broadly aligned” between the CMA and the European Commission, instances of divergence are increasing, noting that the CMA last year cleared two tech deals that the European regulator blocked.

 

City AM

European Union watchdogs have raided the premises of an unidentified security equipment firm in another test of a new law aimed at preventing foreign state-funded companies from abusing their financial muscle to fend off EU rivals. The move follows a flurry of probes under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, targeting Chinese firms involved in clean energy and rail. The EU has powers to vet subsidies that can distort European markets and could issue fines, orders to suspend tenders, or outright blocks of state takeovers.

 

Bloomberg

UBS executives say the bank is "seriously concerned" about the Swiss government's plan to impose tougher capital requirements on it. Chairman Colm Kelleher said that additional capital is the "wrong remedy" and suggested that the bank might need to find $15bn to $25bn in additional capital. Despite this, UBS remains committed to distributing excess capital to shareholders. "UBS is not too big to fail," Mr Kelleher commented, before noting that it is one of the best-capitalised banks in Europe.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

Richard Burger, a partner at law firm WilmerHale, writes in The Times about the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) recently published five-year strategy which aims to tackle the crisis of economic crime, noting that fraud accounts for over 40% of reported cases. However, he warns that SFO director Nick Ephgrave must balance ambition with realism to avoid unrealistic expectations. Mr Burger says the SFO's role in the fight against fraud needs clarification, saying: "Is the SFO an educator about the risks, a support for overstretched local police constabularies, or, as under previous directors, the City’s fraud buster?"

 

The Times

Shipping volumes through the Red Sea have plummeted due to the conflict in the Middle East, causing disruption to global trade flows. Ship traffic through the Suez Canal in Egypt, a major trade artery, has fallen by two-thirds over the past year. The war between Israel and Hamas, along with attacks on ships by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, has led shipping companies to divert vessels on longer and costlier routes. Crossings in the Bab-Al Mandab strait, another key waterway, have collapsed by 59% in the year to April. Retailers such as Ikea, Next, Poundland and Sainsbury's have warned investors that the disruption to shipping flows in the area will have an impact on their results.

 

The Times

Jim Harra, HMRC’s permanent secretary, has told MPs that an unexpected “strength of feeling” prompted the tax office to rethink the closure of its helpline. Earlier this year, HMRC announced that the phone line would be closed between April and September. However, it reversed the decision within 24 hours after the move drew criticism from tax professionals and MPs. HMRC said the reversal was made “to match the public appetite” and Mr Harra told the Commons Treasury Committee that the “strength of feeling was not what we had been expecting.” He added that HMRC still wants to move taxpayers to online services, telling MPs: “We are not knocked off our strategy, but knocked off its implementation course.” Mr Harra also insisted that if the revenue body had been able to proceed with the plans, more vulnerable and digitally excluded customers would have been helped.

 

BBC News

The Independent

The Daily Telegraph

The Times

Corporate insolvencies in Scotland have reached their highest level in over a decade, with 1,168 businesses going bust in 2023/24, a 3% increase from the previous year and 23% up on pre-pandemic levels recorded in 2019/20. Personal insolvencies in Scotland also rose by 1% in the same period. The rise in corporate insolvencies is partly driven by an increase in compulsory liquidations, which have grown by almost a third. The economic climate, volatility in consumer confidence, and high costs of rent, energy, and raw materials have contributed to the difficult year for businesses in Scotland. 

 

The Times

The European Parliament has approved rules that give consumers the right to have worn-out products repaired by producers, in an effort to reduce waste and make goods last longer. The new EU policy will require manufacturers to offer repairs for various products, including fridges, vacuum cleaners, televisions, and washing machines. Consumers will have the choice between a repair or a replacement for faulty products while still under guarantee, with the guarantee being extended by 12 months if the product is repaired. After the guarantee expires, consumers can still claim a repair for free or at a reasonable price. The EU will also ban manufacturers from using software or hardware that obstructs repairs. The European Commission estimates that 35 million metric tons of waste and 260 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions are generated each year from still-usable consumer goods being thrown away. The law still needs approval from EU countries to enter into force.

 

Reuters

Ryanair is suing air traffic control body NATS over flight chaos which saw more than 700,000 passengers hit by cancellations and delays around the August Bank Holiday last year. An investigation found that the issues was caused by a technical glitch during the processing of a flight plan. The Civil Aviation Authority said a "lack of planning" and engineers working from home had contributed to the disruption. Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary said his company had been forced to pay out around £15m in compensation. He has called for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to either step down or be dismissed.

 

Sky News

A group of Tesco employees has taken the grocer to the UK's highest court over the use of a controversial "fire and rehire" tactic. The workers allege they were either fired or forced to move 40 miles to a new place of work in 2009. Tesco offered a lump sum to those who agreed to relocate, but in 2021, the company announced its intention to fire them and rehire them on a worse contract. Oliver Segal, a lawyer representing the workers, described Tesco's practices as invoking a relationship between employer and employee that was akin to a “master” and “servant.” He said that Tesco acted as if it “enjoyed an unrestricted freedom to terminate the relationship at will.” The Supreme Court hearing comes after the supermarket group won its appeal against the workers at a lower court, successfully overturning a previous decision that blocked the company from firing them. The case is being closely watched as it could set a precedent for other companies using similar tactics.

 

Yahoo News Australia

Using the phrase 'back in your day' to older colleagues could be considered age harassment, according to an employment tribunal ruling. The phrase, which highlights the age gap between individuals, may amount to "unwanted conduct" and is potentially unwelcome. The ruling came in the case of nursing assistant Margaret Couperthwaite, who sued for age harassment after a younger colleague allegedly made a comment about an operation being free on the NHS "back in your day." Although the claim was dismissed due to lack of evidence, the tribunal agreed that if the comment had been made, it would have been related to age and likely considered unwanted conduct. Ms Couperthwaite's other claims of discriminatory dismissal, disability discrimination, and harassment were also thrown out.

 

Daily Telegraph

The Times

Daily Express

Daily Mail

Higher earners are leaving Scotland to reduce their tax burden, HMRC research suggests. Official data found that about 8,000 more people were moving to Scotland than leaving for elsewhere in the UK in 2022. However, the report also found that about 1,030 higher-rate taxpayers — equivalent to £61m in tax receipts — moved south of the Border. “This implies that more individuals moved from Scotland to [the rest of the] UK and/or less individuals moved to Scotland from UK following the policy change,” the report said. A new Scottish tax band of 45% on earnings between £75,000 and £125,140 came into force on April 1. Recent research by Scottish Financial Enterprise, the trade body, found that more than 80% of financial services firms believe the tax divergence is routinely affecting their ability to attract and retain people in Scotland. Overall, the HMRC report found that after 2017, when Scottish tax rates started to diverge from those south of the Border, net migration to Scotland increased and the amount of taxable income moving to Scotland increased from about 2019 onwards.

 

The Times

KPMG has revoked job offers from some foreign graduates after tougher visa requirements came into force. Tighter restrictions on immigration have seen minimum salary requirements for skilled worker visa recipients rise from £26,200 to £38,700. Analysis shows that the average yearly salary for a graduate trainee at KPMG ranges from £29,000 to £35,000. Graduates who had their offers revoked were told they could request to transfer to a different graduate programme this year.

 

Financial Times

City AM

Almost four out of 10 women have taken time off work as a result of poor mental health over the past year, according to a new report by Deloitte. The report reveals that the proportion of women calling in sick due to stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues has increased from 35% to 39%. This is higher than the global average of 33%. However, the research also found that two-thirds of women do not feel comfortable discussing mental health at work or disclosing it as the reason for their absence. The report highlights that women from ethnic minority backgrounds face even more challenges, with over half needing time off but only 20% feeling comfortable sharing mental health as the reason with their employer. The study also shows that almost half of the women surveyed in the UK reported increased stress levels, partly due to pressure to return to office working. 

 

Evening Standard

Nicolai Tangen, chief executive of Norway’s $1.6tn oil fund, says Europe is less hard-working, less ambitious, more regulated and more risk-averse than the US – and the gap is getting wider.

 

Financial Times