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

Meta is back in a New Mexico courthouse as part of an ongoing child safety case that could determine whether the company is considered a “public nuisance.” The platform lost the first round of the trial centering on claims brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez that it failed to safeguard children on its apps from sexual predators and misled the public about alleged harms from use of apps including Instagram and Facebook. The trial which started on Monday marks the second phase of the state's lawsuit and will seek to establish over a three-week period if Meta’s actions created a public nuisance, which would precipitate sweeping changes to how Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp operate. “The New Mexico Attorney General’s focus on a single platform is a misguided strategy that ignores the hundreds of other apps teens use daily,” a ​spokesperson for Meta said ahead of the trial.

 

CNBC

Reuters

The First Conference on Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels has concluded with more than 50 countries agreeing to work on trade measures aimed at cutting demand for fossil fuels. World leaders gathered in Colombia's Santa Marta last week for the first-ever global talks to accelerate the shift, a step participating nations said was not just a climate priority but vital for energy independence. The conference was announced last year after the failure of the official UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil to include an explicit reference to fossil fuels in its final deal. “The conclusion is unavoidable, we must transition away from fossil fuels - not just because it’s good for climate, but because it strengthens our energy independence and security,” said Stientje van Veldhoven, minister for climate policy and green growth for the Netherlands, which co-hosted the conference with Colombia.

 

Euronews

Financial Times

More than half of “long-shot” bets on military action made on Polymarket are successful, according to analysis by the Anti-Corruption Data Collective (ACDC), a non-profit research and advocacy group. ACDC says it supports a regulatory approach that prohibits or restricts categories of political markets most vulnerable to insider trading, and recommends that Polymarket should be required to collect government-issued identification for all bettors.

 

ACDC	Financial Times

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), Australia's financial system regulator, has said the country's banks are struggling to match the rapid rate of ​change in AI, warning that frontier AI systems such as Anthropic's Mythos had the potential to precipitate larger and faster cyber attacks. "APRA has heard clear recognition from regulated entities of the need for a step change in ​cyber practices and a continuing uplift in capabilities to protect IT assets in an evolving threat environment," the regulator said, adding: "APRA observed many boards are still developing the technical literacy required to provide effective challenge on ​AI-related risks and oversight."

 

Australian Financial Review

Asia Insurance Review

Reuters

Banks are seeking new ways to offload risks tied to data center debt as the race to build AI infrastructure stretches financing limits among the largest global lenders. 

 

Financial Times

Financial Times

Elon Musk has settled a civil lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding his delayed disclosure of Twitter stock purchases. The SEC had accused Musk of delaying the announcement of his 5% stake in Twitter, allowing him to buy shares at lower prices. A trust in Musk's name will pay a $1.5m civil penalty without admitting wrongdoing. The settlement marks the largest civil penalty for such violations in SEC history. "Mr. Musk ⁠has now been cleared of all issues related to the late filing of forms in the Twitter acquisition, as we said from the outset he would be," his lawyer Alex ​Spiro said. "It's ​an embarrassing day for the SEC," observed Amanda Fischer, former chief of staff to Gary Gensler, who chaired the regulator during the Biden administration. She said the settlement "should cause the public to question whether ‌the SEC ⁠is protecting White House insiders at the expense of ordinary investors.”

 

Reuters

The Guardian

A lender to First Brands has filed a lawsuit against auditor BDO USA, alleging it failed to identify multiple warning signs of fraud at the auto parts supplier prior to its bankruptcy, including extensive factoring arrangements and large transfers to the founder’s personal trust. The claimant, affiliated with Black Diamond Capital Management, is seeking damages equivalent to its roughly $70m debt exposure, accusing BDO of negligence and misrepresentation, while BDO has rejected the claims, arguing the fraud was deliberately concealed and that its audits complied with professional standards.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Cigna has announced it will withdraw from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace next year, becoming the second major insurer to exit after Aetna, amid declining enrollment and rising premiums following the rollback of federal subsidies. The ACA market has seen membership fall as higher monthly costs push consumers - particularly younger, healthier individuals - out of coverage, creating a riskier and more expensive pool of remaining policyholders. This dynamic has led insurers to raise premiums further, fueling a cycle of declining participation and pricing uncertainty. Cigna, which covers around 369,000 ACA members across 11 states, said the segment has been consistently unprofitable and too small to materially impact its overall business, prompting a strategic shift toward more sustainable areas.

 

Hartford Business Journal

Modern Healthcare

Wall Street Journal

Quantum computing companies are accelerating plans to go public, with three firms already listing in 2026 and up to five more expected, potentially tripling the number of publicly traded pure-play quantum businesses as strong investor demand drives high valuations. The surge reflects growing enthusiasm for quantum technology’s long-term potential, with companies using public listings - often via SPACs - to raise capital quickly, fund development, and compete for talent in a race to commercialise the technology. Recent listings include Infleqtion, Xanadu, and Horizon Quantum, joining earlier entrants such as IonQ and Rigetti. Investor interest has been fuelled by increasing government support, advances in the broader tech ecosystem, and parallels with the early growth of artificial intelligence. Some analysts suggest quantum computing could reach commercial viability by the end of the decade.

 

Wall Street Journal

Johnson & Johnson chief information officer Jim Swanson says the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical ⁠company is using artificial intelligence to reduce by half the time it ‌takes to generate new leads for developing treatments. Swanson said that while discovering new products outright and bringing them to market using AI is not yet possible, J&J is using the technology to screen the "potential universe" for promising chemical compounds or ​biologics. "We're trying to cure cancer," he added. "We need every tool that we can leverage ​to be able to do that." 

 

U.S. News

Reuters reports that the U.S. Department of Agriculture earlier this year rejected all four women farmers chosen by their peers to represent them in the United Soybean Board, an industry group. Three of the women suspect the rare intervetion by the USDA was linked to gender. “It seems like a small thing," reflects Sara Stelter, a Wisconsin farmer stripped of her role on the soy board, "but in other ways, it’s really a big deal because it’s just another thing of where the current administration views women, I believe, and what their role should be." Reuters notes the Trump administration has pledged to eliminate policies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, from every layer of government.

 

Reuters