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Businesses are moving more artificial intelligence pilots into production in concert with strengthened governance, according to KPMG’s latest AI Quarterly Pulse Survey of 130 C-suite and business leaders in organizations with annual revenues of $1bn or more. More than 40% of comapnies in the third quarter are actively deploying AI agents, up from 11% in the first quarter, and 33% in the second. Businesses are increasingly bolstering guardrails and oversight; more than three in five leaders said they are putting humans in the loop due to a lack of trust, up from 45% last quarter. In addition to human-in-the-loop oversight and limiting sensitive data access, a majority of leaders are also accessing the technology via trusted providers to hedge risk. “Traditional AI was static - you trained it, deployed it, monitored it,” comments Bryan McGowan, trusted AI leader at KPMG U.S. “But agentic AI systems can perceive, reason, plan and even act autonomously.” He added: “The organizations getting this right understand that scaling agentic capabilities and scaling trust aren’t separate initiatives.”

 

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Blackstone has named Katie Keenan as chief executive of its real estate income trust and global head of the Core+ business, following the fatal shooting of Wesley LePatner in New York in July. She is currently the global co-chief investment officer of Blackstone's real estate debt strategies and CEO of BXMT, its publicly traded commercial mortgage REIT. Blackstone also announced that Tim Johnson will occupy her vacated real estate debt strategies role, and has named Zaneta Koplewicz as the co-president and director of the REIT.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

McDonald’s has appointed Das Dasgupta as global chief data analytics and AI officer. An adjunct professor at USC Marshall School of Business, Mr. Dasgupta has also held leadership roles at Amazon and Viacom, and most recently served as Starbucks' chief data and analytics officer. “In the near term, I’ll focus on building ‘Moneyball’ teams, early wins that matter in restaurants and in the app, and a scalable foundation for AI that helps our people do their best work,” he commented.

 

CIO Dive

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported on Thursday that its diffusion index for current general manufacturing activity expanded to 23.2 in September, from negative 0.3 in August. Economists had expected it to hit a positive 2.3. The sharp increase by the headline index partly reflected a turnaround by new orders, as the new orders index surged to a positive 12.4 in September from a negative 1.9 in August. The shipments index also skyrocketed to 26.1 in September from 4.5 in August, reaching its highest level since hitting 26.3 in February. Looking ahead, the Philly Fed said the survey's future indicators suggest widespread expectations for growth over the next six months, with the diffusion index for future general activity climbing to 31.5 in September from 25 in August.

 

MSN

RTT News

Workers on H-1B visas from India and China were forced to abandon their travel plans and race back to the U.S. at the weekend after President Donald Trump imposed new visa fees. Urgent memos to employees were sent by tech companies and banks, advising them to return before a deadline of 12:01 a.m. EDT on Sunday (0401 GMT), and instructing them not to leave the country. Reuters reports that Trump's proclamation on Friday had set off alarm bells among employers even though a White House official on Saturday, addressing some of the confusion over who would be affected, sought to clarify that the order applied only to new applicants and not to holders of existing visas or those seeking renewals.

 

Reuters

President Donald Trump has said that Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan will be part of a group of investors looking to by TikTok in the U.S., along with Oracle chair Larry Ellison and Dell founder Michael Dell. The sale is required because of a law passed by Congress in April 2024 that would ban the app unless its Chinese parent company ByteDance sells its U.S. arm. New investors would join to dilute Chinese ownership in the company to less than 20% to satisfy the law.

 

CNN

BBC News

New York Times

Reuters

A civil trial is to begin this week brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Amazon regarding the practices it uses to attract consumers to sign up for its signature Prime service, and to steer them away from leaving. The FTC alleges the company tricked people into signing up for the service without their knowledge or consent, including by obscuring details about billing and the terms of free trials. It also said that Amazon has created a labyrinth to make it hard to cancel, requiring customers to navigate four webpages and choose from 15 options to cancel a Prime membership. The company streamlined the process in April 2023, ahead of the filing of the criminal complaint. Amazon denies the allegations, saying it has always been transparent about Prime’s terms and offers straightforward ways for customers to back out of their memberships.

 

Wall Street Journal

Saks Global is in talks with at least four parties to sell 49% of Bergdorf Goodman for around $1bn. “We have initiated a strategic process to explore the potential sale of a minority stake in Bergdorf Goodman", confirmed  Richard Baker, executive chair of Saks Global. “While Bergdorf Goodman is core to our strategy, this process is intended to unlock value for our stakeholders and de-lever our business". The proceeds from the deal would help Saks Global pay down debt from its acquisition of Neiman Marcus. Saks Global is also in the process of selling $600m of real estate and currently owns properties valued at roughly $9bn.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

The Bank of Canada is calling for the establishment of a stablecoin regulatory framework to modernize the country's payment system or risk falling behind peers. “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you sit there,” Ron Morrow, the executive director of payments, supervision and oversight at the central bank, said in a speech at the Chartered Professional Accountants conference in Ottawa, Canada. He added: “Governments are moving to regulate stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies so consumers can reap their benefits and be protected from credit and liquidity risks. In fact, many jurisdictions worldwide either have, or will soon have, a regulatory framework for crypto assets.”

 

Cointelegraph

The Globe and Mail

The AI Tax Research Solution Outlook Report, released by Blue J and CPA.com, reveals a significant performance gap between tax practitioners using AI-powered research solutions and those relying on outdated tools. The report highlights that 54.4% of practitioners have adopted AI for tax research, despite only 33.1% of firms officially implementing AI tools. Benjamin Alarie, chief executive of Blue J, said: “This report should serve as a wake-up call... many firms are dragging their feet.” The findings indicate that 81.3% of practitioners still use Google for tax research, citing legacy systems as time-consuming and difficult. With AI tools answering over 2m tax questions and saving users an average of 2.94 hours weekly, the report emphasizes the urgent need for firms to embrace AI to remain competitive in the evolving tax landscape.

 

Accounting Today

CPA Practice Advisor

The FASB has released an accounting standards update aimed at revising the guidance for internal-use software costs. Richard Jones, FASB chair, said: "Modernizing software accounting guidance was a top priority identified by stakeholders during our last agenda consultation." The amendments eliminate references to software development project stages, making the guidance applicable across various development methods, including agile programming. This change addresses challenges organizations face in differentiating project stages. The new rules will take effect for annual reporting periods starting after December 15th 2027, with early adoption permitted.

 

Bloomberg Tax

Accounting Today

CPA Practice Advisor

Democratic proposals to make enhanced Obamacare tax credits permanent could increase the deficit by $349.8bn over the next decade while providing coverage to an additional 3.8m individuals, according to a new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis. The CBO also projected that average premiums for benchmark plans would decrease by 7.6% annually from 2026 to 2035. However, if the extension is enacted after September, premiums in 2026 may only drop by 2.4% due to insurers' potential lack of adjustment. Democrats have demanded that the premium tax credits be permanently extended in exchange for their votes to fund the government, which Republicans will need to avoid a shutdown. Conservative House Republicans are opposed to extending the tax credits, and some top House Republicans have called the subsidies “massive taxpayer-funded handouts to the wealthy and large health insurance companies.”

 

Bloomberg Tax

Bloomberg

Law360

Politico

Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has warned that undermining the independence of the U.S. Federal Reserve could lead to increased borrowing costs and encourage other governments to interfere with their central banks. President Donald Trump has been pressuring the Fed for aggressive interest rate cuts while attempting to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell, raising concerns about the potential consequences for economic stability. Nagel emphasised that if the Fed's independence is compromised, it could jeopardise the financial stability of the U.S. and set a dangerous precedent for other nations.

 

Reuters

PwC has slashed the jobs of about 60 partners and 1,500 staff from its Middle East business, as part of its efforts to deal with a year-long ban on new advisory contracts imposed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). PwC had been working on PIF projects including the $500bn Neom development. However, an unwillingness to take on audit work that would conflict with more lucrative consulting contracts, along with an attempt to hire Neom's chief internal audit officer,created "friction and angst," according to the FT.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH, has criticized a proposed 2% tax on billionaires, calling it an attack on France's economy. The tax targets wealth exceeding €100m ($117m) and has gained traction amid pressure on Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu from the Socialist Party. Mr Arnault said: "This is clearly not a technical or economic debate, but rather a clearly stated desire to destroy the French economy." He accused economist Gabriel Zucman, the plan's architect, of being a "far-left activist." Mr. Zucman defended himself, asserting that his work is based on research, not ideology. Public support for the tax is high, with an Ifop poll showing 86% approval.

 

Reuters

A report from KPMG has found that 57% of workers would be happy to work at a job for a wage 10% below the market rate in exchange for working with close friends. The Big Four firm's survey of more than 1,000 full-time professionals also found that 45% reported feelings of isolation and loneliness in the workplace, nearly doubling from 25% in 2024. Workers said the top professional benefits of close work friendships include increased productivity and motivation to surpass job requirements. “Working with friends or having a higher salary, of course the answer is ‘both,’” commented Sandy Torchia, KPMG’s U.S. vice chair of talent and culture. “This finding underscores that as talent leaders navigate disruptions from AI and economic uncertainty and create competitive compensation and benefits packages, we cannot miss the importance of fostering workplace friendships, which are critical for a healthy, engaged and productive workforce.”

 

HR Dive