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

Lawmakers on the UK's Public Accounts Committee have criticised the government for lacking a solid plan to reduce red tape by £5.6bn. The cross-party committee's report says that the Government cannot define its growth targets, making it impossible to measure success. It adds that ministers did "not have a grasp on which regulatory interventions they should prioritise to achieve the administrative burden reduction target." The committee says some watchdogs might be required to merge in a bid to minimise the administrative costs of businesses that are having to "co-operate with multiple regulators."

 

The Times

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is to file a complaint against Israeli spyware company, NSO Group, for failing to comply with a court order prohibiting the targeting of WhatsApp users. The company said the messaging service had disrupted new spear phishing attempts linked to NSO, an entity ​blacklisted in 2021 by the US government, which said it “developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used this tool to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers.” WhatsApp won a permanent injunction against NSO last year in US District Court for the Northern District of California; a jury awarded the service over $167m in damages.

 

Ars Technica

Jerusalem Post

Reuters

GSK is to buy cancer drugmaker Nuvalent for $10.6bn in the UK pharmaceutical group’s biggest acquisition for more than a decade. The Boston-based company develops cancer drugs, including three for lung cancer. The deal includes two late-stage next-generation treatments for non-small cell lung cancer - zidesamtinib and neladalkib - which are being reviewed by the US regulator. Decisions are expected in September and November. GSK chief executive Luke Miels said: “Today’s acquisition is a multi-product deal, consistent with our approach to acquire assets that have clinically proven targets and meaningfully address an efficacy and/or tolerability gap.”

 

Financial Times

Reuters

The Guardian

Workers at state-rescued German utility Uniper are protesting a potential sale of the business, as they push for a public listing as a government deadline for prospective buyers to submit expressions of interest looms. They contend that a stock market listing would offer the best long-term prospects for the company, its workforce and energy security.

 

Bloomberg

UK retailer Boots' owner, private equity firm Sycamore Partners, is in discussions for a potential £7.5bn sale, making an initial public offering increasingly unlikely. A source said talks with potential buyers - which reportedly include Sigma Healthcare - are "very preliminary" but "ongoing." Sycamore Partners took control of Boots last year through the $23.7bn acquisition of its parent company, Walgreens Boots Alliance.

 

Financial Times

Daily Mail

The Daily Telegraph

The UK Financial Reporting Council has opened an investigation into PwC's audit of WH Smith’s financial statements for the year ended August 2024. The probe will be conducted under the regulator’s audit enforcement procedure and follows a separate Financial Conduct Authority investigation launched in December 2025 into potential breaches of listing and disclosure rules by WH Smith. PwC has said it will fully cooperate with the investigation.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

City AM

Investment platform W4.0, which was co-founded by former fund manager Neil Woodford, has expressed surprise at the UK Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) decision to launch civil proceedings against the firm. The FCA alleges that W4.0 provided investment advice without authorisation but the firm maintains that it operates outside the regulatory perimeter and does not accept the FCA's characterisation of its service. The firm says it is "regrettable" that the FCA has chosen to litigate instead of continuing a dialogue with it.

 

Financial Times

City AM

Daily Mail

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a formal investigation into Paramount Skydance's proposed £86bn acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery. The watchdog will assess whether the merger could result in a "substantial lessening of competition" in the UK. The CMA will decide whether the deal warrants a more in-depth investigation by August 7.

 

The Guardian

The Daily Telegraph

Indian garment factories supplying retailers including Uniqlo, Tesco, and Marks & Spencer are experiencing productivity losses of up to 10% during peak summer months as extreme heat affects worker attendance, product quality and delivery reliability, according to a report by the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights. The study of 10 factories found temperatures exceeding 45°C are causing operational disruptions including stitching errors, fabric damage, dust contamination and production stoppages, with suppliers increasingly relying on temporary measures to cope with worsening conditions. India’s apparel export sector is worth $39bn and employs around 45m people, 70% of whom are women. The report also highlighted limited oversight from global brands, with only 35% of customers requiring suppliers to monitor factory temperatures and half not asking whether extreme heat has disrupted production. 

 

Bloomberg

The Pentagon has reinstated Alibaba, Baidu and BYD to a blacklist of Chinese companies deemed to pose a national security risk to the US after their sudden removal in February. China’s embassy in Washington, DC, condemned the listing  of some of the country’s best-known commercial brands as “discriminatory” and an example of the US government “overstretching” the concept of national security. “Chinese companies that do business overseas have been strictly observing laws and regulations of their host countries,” an embassy spokesperson said. “The US should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies.”

 

Al Jazeera

Financial Times

The Guardian

Nearly half of UK workers are concerned about their skills becoming outdated due to AI and automation, according to a survey by Totaljobs. The study, which included 2,000 workers and 900 businesses, found that 42% of employees are worried about their job prospects as AI tools replace human tasks. Totaljobs noted that "Fobo," or the "Fear of Becoming Obsolete," is affecting many in the workforce. With unemployment at 5% and competition for jobs increasing, 83% of staff feel the need to learn new skills, yet only 37% have done so in the past year.

 

The Times

Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted cryptocurrency founder of collapsed exchange FTX, has officially sought a pardon from President Donald Trump after serving nearly three years of his 25-year sentence. The 34-year-old submitted an application to the Justice Department’s Pardon Attorney Office, according to the office’s website, requesting a “pardon after completion of sentence.” In a phone interview with Fox Business, Bankman-Fried said he “absolutely” wanted a pardon from the White House. “It would be obviously, you know, ultimately up to the president, not up to me,” he said.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

Politico