The Great Russian Firewall: Putin’s unplugging his country from the internet February 11, 2019 Russia is preparing to detach itself from the rest of the world by briefly disconnecting from the internet, as it readies for future cyber warfare. The test, due to be held before 1 April, will keep all data circulating between Russian citizens and organisations within the country's borders rather than passing through international routes. The move [...]
UK slips behind Norway and Finland in readiness for driverless cars February 11, 2019 Britain’s rivals are speeding ahead in the race to introduce driverless cars onto the roads, according to research. The UK slipped two places this year down to seventh place in KPMG’s rankings on progress and capacity for adopting the technology, overtaken by Norway and Finland. Read more: Tomtom to focus on driverless after €910m sale [...]
Central Bank of Ireland governor Philip Lane to be next European Central Bank chief economist February 11, 2019 Ireland’s Central Bank governor Philip Lane has received backing from eurozone finance ministers to become the European Central Bank’s chief economist. Lane was the only candidate put forward for the job and his role will be confirmed by EU leaders at a meeting next month. Read more: European Central Bank leaves interest rates unchanged He [...]
Wisdom of crowds: startup brings crowd funding to litigation finance February 11, 2019 When Cormac Leech, chief executive of new crowd funding litigation platform Axiafunder, is questioned about the potential 20-30 per cent returns offered to investors on its website, he doubles down. “If anything I’d say its conservatively 20-30 per cent, we would aspire to do better than that actually,” he says. Any investment offering such stellar [...]
To buy or not to buy: The never-ending twists in Mike Ashley’s retail plan February 11, 2019 What on earth is Mike Ashley’s plan? That is the question echoing around the City every time the retail tycoon emerges as an unlikely buyer of another beleaguered high street brand. It is almost a weekly occurrence these days, and one that leaves journalists, shareholders, and even some of Ashley’s own directors scratching their heads [...]
Watchdog delays final report on Sainsbury’s-Asda supermarket merger February 11, 2019 The UK's competition watchdog today extended its probe into the supermarket tie-up between Sainsbury's and Asda by eight weeks. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had decided to delay the publication of its report to give it enough time to “reach a fully reasoned final decision” on the £12bn merger. An inquiry group [...]
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 1MDB corruption trial postponed February 11, 2019 A Malaysian court has postponed the corruption trial of former Prime Minister Najib Razak in connection with the 1MDB state fund scandal. Razak, whose trial was due to start tomorrow, has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power. Read more: 1MDB: Former Malaysian PM records [...]
Reddit users launch Winnie the Pooh protest against Tencent amid censorship fears February 11, 2019 Defiant images of Winnie the Pooh have sprung up across community news site Reddit as users hit back at a major investment by Chinese tech giant Tencent. Reddit confirmed today that the Chinese conglomerate has contributed a $150m (£116m) investment in the website, which describes itself as the ‘front page of the internet’, as part of a wider [...]
Petrofac faces potential £400m lawsuit following ex-employee’s bribery conviction February 11, 2019 Oil field services company Petrofac is facing a potential £400m lawsuit from angry investors after its shares crashed when one of its former executives pleaded guilty to bribery and corruption charges. The former global head of sales at Petrofac, David Lufkin, pleaded guilty last Thursday to offering corrupt payments in an attempt to secure contracts [...]
Morgan Stanley buys stock plan platform Solium Capital in $900m deal February 11, 2019 Morgan Stanley has announced plans to buy Canadian stock plan platform Solium Capital for $900m (£696.9m) as the firm targets millennial customers. The companies entered into a partnership with one another in 2016 for Solium to provide equity compensation plans for Morgan Stanley’s corporate clients, and the investment bank has been planning to ramp up its [...]