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European Edition
20th November 2025
 
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THE HOT STORY

EU names 'critical' tech providers for finance

EU regulators have designated 19 major tech firms - including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft - as critical third-party computing providers to the financial sector under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). The law, active since January 2025, allows EU-level regulators to directly oversee these companies to ensure operational resilience. The move addresses concerns about widespread cloud service outages disrupting banking systems. Firms including IBM, LSEG, and Microsoft welcomed the designation and pledged to strengthen cybersecurity compliance. The UK plans to follow suit with a similar regulatory regime by 2026 as concerns grow over financial system vulnerabilities tied to tech reliance.
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CYBERSECURITY

Stop Letting SIEM Slow You Down

Legacy SIEM is becoming a liability for UK risk leaders. Rising ingestion costs, patchy visibility, and mounting audit gaps now expose organisations to operational, financial, and regulatory risk. This guide shows how to break the cycle. It gives senior security and IT leaders a clear, structured framework to decide whether their current SIEM still justifies its cost and how to execute a migration without disruption. It drills into the true cost of renewing the wrong platform, the risks of vendor lock-in, and what modern SIEM capability should actually look like, from scalable pipelines to cross-environment integration. It also highlights the blind spots in many managed SIEM offerings that push noise instead of delivering outcomes. For CISOs and risk professionals under pressure to cut spend while improving response, this is a practical blueprint for transforming detection, proving impact, and regaining operational control.

 
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CORPORATE

WH Smith boss resigns after probe flags US accounting errors

The head of WH Smith has resigned after an independent investigation of the UK retailer’s accounts found its treatment of its US business was “not consistent with the group’s stated accounting policy.” The group announced that Carl Cowling has stepped down as chief executive, and stepped down as a board director, with immediate effect, and has been replaced on an interim basis by Andrew Harrison, head of its UK division. WH Smith previously said it found an overstatement of about £30m ($39.5m) in its profits for North America in the latest fiscal year, a figure it has lifted to as much as £50m based on new figures published in an independent review carried out by Deloitte. "This is an extremely serious matter that has had the Board's full attention, and we sincerely apologise for the shortcomings identified", WH Smith chair Annette Court said, adding the priority was to rebuild trust and to improve profitability of the division.
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REGULATION

EU court rejects Amazon's bid to scrap EU tech label

The European Union's General Court has dismissed a legal challenge filed by Amazon against its decision to designate the firm as a "very large online platform" and therefore subject to stricter regulations around advertising and content moderation. The online retailer had argued in court that marketplaces like the Amazon Store do not pose systemic risks.

Italian regulator fines Tannico for 'misleading' discounts

Italy's competition authority has fined online wine retailer Tannico €150,000 for unfair commercial practices. The Italian e-commerce firm, which is owned by Castel-Vins, a unit of French wine company Castel-Freres, was found to have advertised "misleading and incomplete" discounts. Products labelled as "on offer" were priced equal to or higher than their retail price in the previous 30 days, in breach of rules on the transparency of discounts.
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LEGAL

HP seeks $1.8bn From Mike Lynch's estate

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is seeking to recoup losses of nearly $1.8bn from the estate of the late Mike Lynch over HP's 2011 acquisition of Lynch's tech firm Autonomy for $11.1bn. Lynch died last year when his luxury yacht sank off Sicily. HP accused Lynch and Autonomy's former chief financial officer, Sushovan Hussain, of inflating the firm's value before the takeover. Autonomy's worth was written down by $8.8bn within a year of its purchase by HP.
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OPERATIONAL

Shipping lines prepare for post-Red Sea crisis restructure

Container shipping lines are preparing for service restructuring ahead of a return to Suez Canal and Red Sea transits. Darron Wadey, an analyst at Dynamar, said there are “cautious yet positive signs” for Suez and Red Sea transits to resume, but he warned that carriers will not rush back to Suez, because they will want a firm security foundation to build on. “Even if the carriers feel comfortable enough to start transiting the Red Sea/Suez Canal again en masse, the logistics of the exercise will mean this will require weeks if not months to unravel,” he said.
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STRATEGY

WHO to shed over 2,000 jobs by mid-2026

The Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts that its workforce will shrink by 2,371 posts by June 2026 after Donald Trump withdrew the US from the agency. “This year has been one of the most difficult in WHO’s history, as we have navigated a painful but necessary process of prioritisation and realignment that has resulted in a significant reduction in our global workforce,” said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a message to staff, adding that the process was now nearing an end. “We are now preparing to move forward with our reshaped and renewed Organisation,” he added.

Job losses likely at Dutch Central Bank

The Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank, DNB) has announced a multi-year reorganisation plan to reduce costs by 10%, which will likely result in job losses. DNB, which employs over 2,300 staff, aims to cut approximately €60m in expenses to maintain its 2030 budget amid rising operational costs. President Olaf Sleijpen said: "We realise this will have a major impact on our people." Despite recent losses, Sleijpen said the bank will continue to carry out its core functions, namely: “Ensuring stable prices, supervising a healthy and ethical financial sector, promoting an effective, safe, and efficient payment system, and maintaining financial stability in the Netherlands.”
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WORKFORCE

Irish public asked for their views on right to request remote working

The Irish government has launched a public consultation to gather feedback on the right to request remote working. The rules, which came into force in March last year, require employers and employees to refer to a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) code of practice when considering applications for remote working arrangements. Employees can forward a dispute to the WRC if they believe an employer has failed to fulfil their obligations under the code. Since its introduction, the WRC has received 60 complaints, with only one upheld. Minister of State for Small Business Retail and Circular Economy, Alan Dillon, emphasised the importance of this consultation, saying: "This is an important opportunity to hear directly from members of the public, employers and other stakeholders." Submissions are open until 9 December.

Few Finns have received employer training on AI

More than half of IT professionals in Finland use AI weekly, yet only a third have received employer training on its use. A survey for global tech firm HP revealed that while 25% of respondents employ AI in their work, most do so independently. Concerns about AI's accuracy and security hinder broader adoption. Nearly half of the professionals expressed a desire to use AI more effectively. Vesa Jukonen, HP's country manager, observed: "The employees are already prepared, but management and guidance have not kept up the pace."
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CLIMATE

Momentum grows at COP30 for 'road map' to quit fossil fuels

Almost 20 government ministers and more than 80 countries at the UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil have called on the almost 200 nations to sign up for a 'road map' away from fossil fuel use. Supporters said that none of the options to accelerate the shift included in a draft agreement were sufficient, and they called on Brazil to do more. Panama’s climate envoy, Juan Carlos Monterrey Gómez, told the Financial Times that any road map would need a “lot of flexibility” to allow for the different circumstances of countries.
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INSURANCE

Private credit pushing reinsurers into riskier business, industry warns

Reinsurance bosses have told the Financial Times that a flood of capital from private credit firms is pushing reinsurers into taking on riskier business through more lightly regulated intermediaries.
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GEOPOLITICAL

Poland identifies railway sabotage suspects

Poland has identified two Ukrainians responsible for a recent explosion on the Warsaw-Lublin railway line, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said. The suspects allegedly collaborated with Russian intelligence and have fled to Belarus. Tusk observed that the blast was part of a broader pattern of sabotage targeting Poland, which has become a significant hub for aid to Ukraine. He said: "We have identified the people responsible for the acts of sabotage."
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TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft launches tool to help companies manage AI agents

Microsoft has introduced Agent 365, a management platform for businesses to oversee AI agents - automated programs that are expected to reach 1.3bn in use by 2028. The tool allows IT staff to monitor, secure, and control AI agents across platforms including Microsoft and Salesforce. Agents can be quarantined if they misbehave or pose cybersecurity risks. “Business leaders want to measure ROI and manage these agents just like employees,” said Judson Althoff, Microsoft’s commercial CEO. While some firms have seen success with AI agents, others have faced implementation challenges, raising concerns about the technology’s maturity and the potential for an AI market bubble.
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