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

Fund manager Vanguard Group is to pay $29.5m to settle a lawsuit by 13 Republican state attorneys general who claimed the firm and rivals violated antitrust law through climate activism. Reuters notes that the suit in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas has been closely watched as a test of how far Republicans from energy-producing states would push Wall Street firms they accused of overemphasizing environmental matters. Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, one of the plaintiffs, said Vanguard "agreed to strict passivity commitments" which prohibit the firm from dictating the strategy of companies in which it invests or to push shareholder proposals related to environmental or social concerns. Vanguard decided to settle the litigation to avoid the potential for tens of millions of dollars in legal fees and to get rid of the “distraction”, said sources.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

Stay Ahead of Regulatory and Cyber Risk

Regulatory change and emerging cyber threats are outpacing traditional, point-in-time audits. For risk professionals, reactive compliance models create blind spots, inefficiencies, and unnecessary exposure.

This eBook explains how continuous controls monitoring and integrated risk management provide always-on visibility across frameworks such as NIST, PCI-DSS, CIS 18, and ISO 27001. By unifying data across systems and correlating assets, controls, and vulnerabilities, organizations can identify control drift early, prioritize remediation, and reduce audit fatigue.

Learn how to transform compliance data into actionable risk intelligence, strengthen your security posture, and deliver clear, evidence-based reporting to executives and the board.

If you’re ready to modernize your risk strategy and move beyond chasing audits, this guide provides the roadmap.

Download the eBook

 

Fintech company Block has announced it will lay off over 4,000 workers, or nearly half of its workforce, as artificial intelligence transforms operational dynamics. Jack Dorsey, co-founder and head of Block, emphasized that the layoffs are not due to financial issues but rather a shift in how companies operate. “We're already seeing that the intelligence tools we're creating and using . . . are enabling a new way of working,” he said. Dorsey said he opted for immediate cuts to avoid prolonged uncertainty, explaining: “Repeated rounds of cuts are destructive to morale.” Block aims to complete the workforce reduction by the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2026. Dorsey plans to address employees directly in a live session, keeping communication channels open for farewells.

 

Los Angeles Times

Google has disrupted the operations of a Chinese-linked hacking group known as UNC2814 which had breached at least 53 organisations across 42 countries. The group used Google Sheets to execute their surveillance and data theft, successfully blending their activities into normal network traffic, according to Google Threat Intelligence analysts. John Hultquist from Google's team said: “This was a vast surveillance apparatus used to spy on people and organizations throughout the world.”

 

Reuters

Bloomberg reports that U.S. courts are forcing the White House to reveal information about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk's role in it. Judges have ordered the government to disclose the names of DOGE employees and contractors, and to investigate phone numbers that Musk may have used for official business. The Trump administration faces multiple lawsuits seeking transparency and accountability for the department's actions, including its access to government systems and records with sensitive financial or personal data. “You really are seeing an unwillingness from the government to shed any type of light or any type of accountability for what happened,” said Tianna Mays, legal director of Democracy Defenders Fund.

 

Bloomberg

The IRS Criminal Investigation unit (IRS-CI) is increasingly relying on data from financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) for its investigations. In fiscal year 2025, 94% of IRS-CI cases utilized BSA data, leading to over 3.9m searches. IRS-CI Chief Guy Ficco said: "BSA data is often the first signal that something isn't right," as he highlighted its importance in identifying financial crime patterns. From FY23 to FY25, IRS-CI investigated 1,394 cases of refund fraud totaling $2.9bn, with 99% linked to BSA filings. The unit achieved a 98% conviction rate in cases using BSA data, resulting in significant asset forfeitures and restitution for victims. New initiatives like CI-FIRST and the Optimizing Financial Records Request aim to enhance collaboration with financial institutions to combat financial crime more effectively.

 

Accounting Today

CPA Practice Advisor

In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court has determined that the U.S. Postal Service is protected from lawsuits, even in cases of intentional mail non-delivery by its employees. The court said Congress, in 1946, had barred lawsuits “arising out of the loss, miscarriage, or negligent transmission of letters or postal matter,” and that includes mail that is stolen or misdirected by postal employees. Justice Clarence Thomas said the law broadly bars complaints involving lost or missing mail. “A ‘miscarriage of mail' includes failure of the mail to arrive at its intended destination, regardless of the carrier's intent or where the mail goes instead,” he said. Lebene Konan, a Texas real estate agent who is Black, had sued contending white postal carriers refused to deliver her mail to two houses where she rented rooms.

 

Los Angeles Times

U.S. News

Finland, Ireland, Estonia, Latvia and the Czech Republic have warned against relaxing EU merger rules following some companies' calls for reduced regulatory scrutiny of deals in order to better compete with non-EU rivals. "Size in itself should not be the primary objective" of mergers, the five countries said, calling to pursue "undertakings that succeed through efficiency, innovation and fair competition instead of exemptions or special treatment."

 

Reuters

Spanish competition authorities have accused Apple and Amazon of failing to promptly comply with a regulatory order tied to a long-running antitrust case. The CNMC regulator fined the two companies €194m ($228m) in total in July 2023 over anti-competitive clauses outlining Amazon's conditions as an Apple distributor. It said they unfairly restricted the number of Apple resellers on Amazon's website in Spain. The latest finding of infringement could mean a further fine.

 

PYMNTS.com

Reuters

Colgate-Palmolive intends to oppose a shareholder proposal aimed at removing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) criteria from its board member selection process. In a letter to the National Legal and Policy Center, the company said that "it is important that our directors bring a broad range of skills, experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds" to the board, amidst growing pressure from conservative groups on companies to roll back DEI initiatives. Colgate highlighted that approximately two-thirds of its net sales come from international markets, reinforcing its commitment to maintaining DEI policies while other firms reconsider their approaches.

 

Reuters

Salesforce projected stable revenue growth for its new fiscal year, seeking to reassure investors concerned that artificial intelligence could disrupt traditional software businesses. The company expects annual revenue of $45.8bn to $46.2bn, roughly 10% growth and in line with last year’s pace. Adjusted earnings per share are forecast at $13.11 to $13.19, near Wall Street expectations. Despite the steady outlook, shares fell 5% in after-hours trading. Chief executive Marc Benioff dismissed fears of an AI-driven “SaaS-pocalypse,” saying Salesforce has weathered similar industry disruptions before. He also announced a new $50bn share buyback authorization, replacing previous unused programs, calling the recent stock decline a buying opportunity.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Chief financial officers who delegate financial reporting duties to a chief accounting officer (CAO) are more likely to remain in their roles longer and ultimately advance to chief executive, according to new research published in Management Science. The study, co-authored by University of Iowa professor Adrienne Rhodes, analyzed S&P 1500 companies from 2004 to 2019 and found that firms with a CAO on the executive team responsible for financial reporting were about 19% less likely to experience voluntary CFO turnover. CFOs in these firms were also less likely to move laterally to other CFO roles and more likely to be promoted to CEO. Researchers suggest that delegating time-consuming accounting responsibilities reduces burnout and frees CFOs to focus on strategic leadership and investor-facing work - experience that boards often seek in CEO candidates.

 

Fortune

Christophe Leribault has been appointed as the new head of the Louvre, succeeding Laurence des Cars, who resigned in the wake of a jewelry heist and ongoing staff strikes. Leribault, an 18th-century art historian, previously directed the Palace of Versailles and has experience at the Louvre's graphic arts department. "Leribault's priority will be to ​strengthen the safety and security of the building, the collections, and ⁠people, to ⁠restore a climate of ⁠trust, ​and to carry forward, together with all the teams, the necessary transformations for ​the museum," the ⁠Culture Ministry said in a statement about President Emmanuel Macron's choice for the job.

 

U.S. News

The World Bank has said that full workplace equality does not exist anywhere in the world, and only "less than 5% of women worldwide" live in economies with near full legal economic equality. Even in instances when workplace equality laws are passed by lawmakers they are truly enforced in only about half of all cases, the World Bank said in a report on women, business and the law. “Even in economies that have modernized their laws, women still face constraints that shape the work they can do, the businesses they can start, and the safety they need to pursue opportunities,” said Dr Indermit Gill, the bank’s chief economist.

 

Malay Mail

Straits Times

Arab News