Abramovich bought Chelsea on Putin’s orders, former FT correspondent in Moscow claims July 28, 2021 Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was accused of buying Chelsea FC as “part of a scheme to corrupt the West” on Vladimir Putin’s orders in a “seriously defamatory” book about the Russian president’s regime, his lawyers told the High Court today. The 54-year-old billionaire is suing journalist Catherine Belton over her best-selling book Putin’s People: How [...]
Corruption in the City: Pinning down companies’ criminal accountability July 28, 2021 This summer marked 10 years since the UK Bribery Act 2010 came into force. Amongst many new powers granted under the law, a particularly significant one was that of the ‘failure to prevent’ corruption or bribery, under which businesses could be held liable and responsible for the actions of their subordinate, unless they had sufficiently [...]
Contenful now worth $3bn after fresh capital rally ahead of rumoured US IPO July 28, 2021 Content platform provider Contentful, led by a former Microsoft and Amazon executive, has hit a valuation of $3bn today after its latest funding round. The fundraiser, led by investment giant Tiger Global, rallied together $175m for its expansion into marketing and sales. The German company, founded in 2012, operates content management systems behind websites like [...]
Biden warns cyber attacks could lead to ‘real shooting war with major power’ July 28, 2021 US President Joe Biden has warned that if the United States ended up in a “real shooting war” with a “major power” it could be the result of a significant cyber attack on the country, highlighting what Washington sees as growing threats posed by Russia and China. Watch the full report.
Exclusive: Islamic fintech founder Junaid Wahedna on why the UK market is firmly on his radar July 28, 2021 The market for Islamic fintech is growing globally, and in the UK. Last month the Boubyan Bank Group announced that the world’s first Islamic international digital bank will be launched in the UK. The global Islamic fintech market is estimated to reach $128bn by 2025, a 161 per cent increase from 2020’s figure, according to [...]
German insurance watchdog forecasts €5.5bn worth of flood damage claims July 28, 2021 German insurance industry association GDV has forecast around €5.5bn worth of claims due to extreme flooding earlier this month. The insurance watchdog has upped its estimates from between €4bn and €5bn last week. Germany’s biggest insurer Allianz issued its first damages estimate of more than €500m yesterday from the storm known as storm Bernd. The [...]
Morrisons: Singapore’s wealth fund GIC joins Fortress’ £6.3bn takeover deal July 28, 2021 In an unexpected turn of events, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund joined this morning forces with the private equity-led consortium seeking to buy Morrisons in £6.3bn deal. Bosses at the supermarket giant agreed the takeover move, led by institutional investor Fortress, earlier this month. However, last night, Morrison’s largest shareholder, Silchester International, said it will not [...]
British American Tobacco smoking alternatives revenues take off July 28, 2021 British American Tobacco has seen its smoking alternatives take off, as the new products brought in £883m alone and customers increased at their highest rate yet. Its smoking alternatives like vape, tobacco heating and modern oral products brought in more than 40 per cent more revenue in the six months to 30 June than in [...]
Visa-backed Brazilian payments firm Conductor eyes US IPO July 27, 2021 Brazilian payments firm Conductor has tabled plans for a US initial public offering that could come as soon as this year, according to reports. Conductor, which is backed by Visa, has already hired banks for the IPO, Reuters first reported citing three sources close to the matter. No figure has yet been put on the [...]
Elon Musk’s Twitter antics pushes Tesla’s $23m loss in Bitcoin assets July 27, 2021 Tesla’s lofty revenue, which surpassed analyst expectations today, has been offset by a $23m loss over Bitcoin which pushed the electric carmaker to dial back its investments. Elon Musk’s carmaker did not buy or sell any digital assets in its second quarter, as it dialled back investments after purchasing some $1.5bn in Bitcoin in the [...]