Softbank’s Vision Funds book record £31bn loss – but Alibaba sale helps cushion the blow May 11, 2023 Japanese investment giant Softbank continued to shed cash from its storied Vision Funds in the three months to March even as a slew of asset sales and tech rebound helped narrow losses across the firm.
Vodafone: New chief embarks on Emirati E& partnership, with board seats up for grabs May 11, 2023 Vodafone has announced a strategic relationship with e& – the Emirati telecommunications firm which currently holds 14.6 per cent of its shares. In the deal, E&’s chief executive will join the board and there are provisions included for another member its team team to take a seat should the Emirati firm’s shareholding go above 20 [...]
Twitter could introduce encrypted messaging feature today, Musk says May 10, 2023 Twitter could release an encrypted messaging feature on its app today, the company’s chief executive Elon Musk said. In a tweet on Tuesday, Musk said that an encrypted direct messaging feature “should” be rolled out today. In theory, this would mean only the sender and recipient of the message could read it. “The acid test [...]
Consumer Duty: why City firms need to prepare now or face ‘robust action’ May 10, 2023 A clampdown is looming for City firms as the Financial Conduct Authority prepares to roll out its new consumer duty this summer, in the biggest shake-up of consumer protections in over a decade.
Elf Bar warned by advertising watchdog after banning Tiktok vape promotions May 10, 2023 Two Tiktok posts by influencers promoting vapes have been banned for breaking rules prohibiting e-cigarette advertising on social media. The first post from the account @Panaxhe_ shows a young man selecting a blueberry-flavoured Elf Bar for breakfast from a fridge full of the brightly-coloured devices before returning later for a kiwi passion fruit-flavoured vape for lunch. The second showed former Gogglebox [...]
Lord Pannick: Activision hires top KC for £55bn Microsoft takeover legal challenge May 10, 2023 Computer Games company Activision Blizzard has hired Boris Johnson’s former lawyer to represent it in a £55 billion legal battle with the competition watchdog. Lord David Pannick KC, who represented the ex-prime minister through the partygate hearings, will be representing the games giant at a Competition Appeal Tribunal, the Financial Times reported. It comes after [...]
Capita warns of £20m hit from cyber attack May 10, 2023 A cyber attack against outsourcing firm Capita which saw personal information leaked onto the dark web is likely to cost £15-20m to resolve, the firm revealed this morning.
Can regulators get the City growing? It will be hard to tell, lawyers warn May 10, 2023 The government may run into trouble as it looks to gauge the impact of City regulators in boosting the growth and international standing of the UK’s financial sector, top lawyers have warned.
Virgin Galactic shares take-off after astronaut test flight announcement May 9, 2023 Space-tourism company Virgin Galactic Holdings said on Monday that a four-member test flight will take place in May and that it aims to launch its first commercial flight in late June. Shares in Virgin Galactic jumped four per cent after the company said the May mission would be the final test of the spaceflight system [...]
London tech grandee lined up to lead embattled WANdisco’s recovery effort May 9, 2023 The beleaguered data firm WANdisco is set to appoint the businessman Stephen Kelly as interim chief executive, it announced on Tuesday. Kelly previously served as chief executive of the software companies, Chordiant, MicroFocus and most recently FTSE100 constituent, Sage, until 2018. “I am a firm believer in the potential of WANdisco’s technology to become a [...]