Archive

The UK government’s British Business Bank (BBB) has cancelled some guarantees offered to banks to lend to crisis-hit businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic. Figures obtained by Reuters under a freedom of information (FOI) request show that the state-owned financier had withdrawn guarantees to loans made by commercial banks, which it had originally underwritten at the height of the health crisis, worth GBP979 million pounds (USD1.2 billion) linked to 10,786 outstanding loans by October 11.…

RMG manufacturers in Bangladesh have urged fashion brands and buyers to pay more for orders after the country’s minimum wage for textile and clothing workers increased to Bangladesh Taka BDT12,500 (USD113.38) on Tuesday, a 56.25% increase from the previous BDT8,000.

Many workers, however, are still protesting, calling for further increases, forcing apparel factory closures today (Thursday Nov 9).…

The ability of computer algorithms to identify outlier behaviour and indicate potential fraud is becoming stronger as IT specialists, mathematicians and AI develop new applications and techniques, offering anti-fraud professionals better tools to unearth and prosecute financial crime.

A McKinsey report from November 2022 (1) noted how companies are using machine-learning algorithms to assess data to maximise fraud detection through reducing false positives and missed fraud.…

A UK Online Safety Act received Royal Assent October 26, in what consumer association Which? described (1) as “a major step forward in the fight back against fraud”. The new law (2) will authorise penalties for social media companies and search engines who fail to prevent their platforms being used for fraud – from false claims, profiles and promotions to misleading statements and counterfeiting, whether through user generated content or paid for advertising. …

While the global economy has not performed as badly in 2023, as inflation-focused doomsayers predicted (the International Monetary Fund has projected 3% growth for 2023 and 2024, down from 3.5% in 2022), companies are still struggling, especially with interest rate rises.…

The increasing risks posed by creative high-tech crime have been highlighted in the first European Financial and Economic Crime Threat Assessment released by European Union (EU) police agency Europol. It concluded criminals have weaponised the drift to digital finance, work and business.…

Usually, free trade agreements are good news for dairy industries, or, at worst, one sector feels it has lost out compared to its competitors affected by a deal. But after the European Union (EU) and New Zealand signed a free trade agreement (FTA) this July (2023), after four years of negotiation, both the European and NZ dairy sectors – important global players – were underwhelmed by its terms.…

Latin America’s largest economy, Brazil, has confirmed plans to make International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) reporting standards mandatory from January 2026, having already authorised voluntary use by public companies and investment funds from 2024. The country’s finance ministry and its securities regulator the Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) have confirmed the move under CVM resolution 193.…

European Union (EU) member states are failing to comply with the bloc’s 2019 whistleblower protection directive (1) and two – Estonia and Poland – have not implemented the legislation at all, according to a new report (2) from Transparency International. ‘How well do EU countries protect whistleblowers?…

The Portuguese automation machinery manufacturer ESI Robotics is working to launch in 2025 an innovative robot for sewing, which its co-founder Gil Sousa believes will be a game changer for the textile sector.
The firm, whose initials stand for ‘Engineering, Solutions and Innovation’ and which works on research and development, industrial automation, robotics and mechanical solutions, has 40 workers, and is based in the northern city of Vila Nova de Famalicão, a textile manufacturing hub.…