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☆ Wall Street futures rise as economic data fuels hopes of Fed policy shift
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures up: Dow 0.01%, S&P 0.06%, Nasdaq 0.09%June 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures inched up on Friday as signs of easing price pressures and slowing economic growth raised hopes the Federal Reserve could end its monetary tightening campaign soon. ET, is expected to show the index rose to 60 in June from 59.2 in May. Meanwhile, a simultaneous expiration of stock options, stock index futures and index options contracts on Friday, known as triple witching, could cause a spike in market volatility. ET, Dow e-minis were up 5 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 2.75 points, or 0.06%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 14.5 points, or 0.09%. Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Sruthi Shankar, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Dow, Nasdaq, Microsoft, Nvidia, University, Dow e, Adobe Inc, iRobot, Amazon.com, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Explainer: Why is UK food inflation so stubbornly high?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

While market leader Tesco (TSCO.L) said on Friday there were "encouraging early signs" that food inflation was starting to ease across the market, it remains stubbornly high, running at over 19% in April, according to the most recent official data. Below are possible reasons why:NOT ALL COMMODITY PRICES ARE FALLINGSome global commodity prices have fallen enabling supermarkets to pass on reductions in areas such as milk, bread, butter, pasta and oils. Generally speaking, food retailers and their suppliers operate with long-term contracts. Having eventually secured better prices, suppliers are reluctant to give up those hard won gains. Some politicians and trade unions have raised concerns about profiteering by food retailers, saying they have kept prices high despite falls in commodity, energy and shipping costs.

Persons: Andrew Bailey, reassurances, Ken Murphy, Andrew Opie, Tesco's Murphy, James Davey, David Evans Organizations: Bank of England, Tesco, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations, British Retail Consortium, THE, Reuters, Brexit, London School of Economics, Supermarkets, Markets Authority, Thomson Locations: Britain, China, Japan, BREXIT, London, Brussels

☆ UK clears Amazon's $1.7 billion deal for Roomba-maker iRobot
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 16 (Reuters) - Britain's competition regulator on Friday cleared Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) planned $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot Corp (IRBT.O), maker of the Roomba vacuum cleaner. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had concluded that the deal would not lead to competition concerns in the UK. "We're pleased with the UK Competition and Markets Authority's decision and are committed to supporting regulatory bodies in their work," a spokesperson for Amazon said. The news sent shares in U.S-listed iRobot up 12% in pre-market trade, while Amazon's stock was marginally down. EU antitrust regulators will decide by July 6 whether to clear the deal, while the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is also examining the acquisition.

Persons: We're, Colin Angle, Eva Mathews, Devika Syamnath, Jason Neely Organizations: Amazon.com, iRobot Corp, Markets Authority, Competition, Amazon, CMA, Regulators, Big Tech, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Vodafone and Three merger faces scrutiny from competition regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The $19 billion tie-up will be scrutinised by Britain's Competition and Markets Authority, the antitrust regulator which made global headlines in April when it blocked Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard. The long-awaited mobile deal reduces the number of networks from four to three, challenging a tenet long held by regulators that four help to keep prices low in major markets. "The government's desire to make the UK a 5G powerhouse requires a lot of investment," he said. One London-based investment banker, who declined to be named, said he put the chance of the deal receiving the green light from regulators at 50%. A major telecoms investor said the deal could be approved, but only with strong remedies, and that could risk undermining its rationale.

Persons: CK Hutchison, Activision Blizzard, Hutchison, Paolo Pescatore, Peter Broadhurst, Moring, James Gray, Sarah Cardell, Robert Finnegan, Gray, Paul Sandle, Amy, Jo Crowley, Sinead Cruise, Kate Holton, Emelia Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, Hutchison, O2, Vodafone, CK, HK, Britain's Competition, Markets Authority, Ofcom, European Commission, Foresight, Hutchison's, UK plc, Victoria, Crowell, CMA, Reuters, National Security and Investment, Britain's, Tesco Mobile, Telefonica, Thomson Locations: Hong Kong, Britain, Europe, China, London, Germany

☆ UK's Sunak scraps plan for supermarket price cap after backlash - Telegraph
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 14 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has abandoned plans to ask supermarkets to impose a voluntary price cap on basic goods after a backlash from retailers, the Telegraph reported on Wednesday. British ministers are pursuing other measures to deal with the country's sky-rocketing food inflation, and officials had reassured retailers there would be no intervention in prices, the Telegraph said on Wednesday, citing sources. Britain's competition regulator told supermarkets in late May it was looking at their earnings to identify which supply chains it needed to examine more closely as part of efforts to tackle food price inflation. Asda, Britain's third largest supermarket group, this week froze prices of over 500 products until the end of August, adding to signs that a surge in food inflation is set to abate and even reverse in the coming months. Reporting by Anusha S and Bharat Govind Gautamin Bengaluru; Editing by Diane Craft and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Anusha, Bharat Govind Gautamin, Diane Craft, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: British, Telegraph, British Retail Consortium, Asda, Thomson Locations: Bharat Govind Gautamin Bengaluru

Under the terms, Vodafone will own 51% and Hutchison 49% of the combined group, which will be led by current Vodafone UK boss Ahmed Essam. The finance chief of Hutchison's Three UK, Darren Purkis, will take the same role in the new group. The combined operator will have about 27 million customers, overtaking BT's (BT.L) EE and VM O2, jointly owned by Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Liberty Global (LBTYA.O). Vodafone, which is currently Britain's third-biggest mobile operator, and fourth-placed Hutchison will have options which would allow Vodafone to acquire the Hong Kong-based conglomerate's 49% stake in the future. Shares in Vodafone, which fell to a 25-year low of 71 pence on Tuesday, rose 3.6% after the deal was announced.

Persons: CK Hutchison, Canning Fok, Ahmed Essam, Darren Purkis, Hutchison, Vodafone's Essam, Robert Finnegan, Gail Cartmail, Paul Sandle, Clare Jim, Kate Holton, Sharon Singleton, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Vodafone, CK, HK, Hutchison, Hutchison's, BT's, VM O2, Telefonica, Liberty Global, Britain's Competition, Markets Authority, CMA, Unite, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, Britain, Hong Kong, China, London

☆ Microsoft-Activision: Mega deal caught in crosshairs of antitrust regulators
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

June 14 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) $69 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) faced another hurdle on Tuesday after a U.S. judge granted a request by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to temporarily block the deal. The acquisition has attracted scrutiny from several antitrust enforcers, including Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), over concerns it would hinder competition in the nascent cloud gaming market. If not for the court order, Microsoft could have closed the deal as early as Friday. Here is a snapshot of key events in the Microsoft-Activision saga:Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tiyashi Datta, Anil D'Silva Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, Federal Trade Commission, Britain's, Markets Authority, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Factbox: Governments race to regulate AI tools
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

CHINA* Planning regulationsThe Chinese government will seek to initiate AI regulations in its country, billionaire Elon Musk said on June 5 after meeting with officials during his recent trip to China. ITALY* Investigating possible breachesItaly's data protection authority plans to review other artificial intelligence platforms and hire AI experts, a top official said in May. ChatGPT became available again to users in Italy in April after being temporarily banned over concerns by the national data protection authority in March. SPAIN* Investigating possible breachesSpain's data protection agency said in April it was launching a preliminary investigation into potential data breaches by ChatGPT. The Biden administration earlier in April said it was seeking public comments on potential accountability measures for AI systems.

Persons: Alan Turing, Elon Musk, Margrethe Vestager, Vestager, CNIL, Dado Ruvic, Ziv Katzir, Israel, ChatGPT, OpenAI, Antonio Guterres, Guterres, Michael Bennet, Biden, Alessandro Parodi, Amir Orusov, Jason Neely, Kirsten Donovan, Milla Nissi Organizations: Microsoft, Authority, Reuters, EU, Key, European Consumer Organisation, Seven, REUTERS, Israel Innovation Authority, UNITED, International Atomic Energy Agency, United Nations, U.S . Federal Trade Commission's, Thomson Locations: AUSTRALIA, BRITAIN, Britain, CHINA, China, Beijing, U.S, FRANCE, Italy, Hiroshima, Japan, IRELAND, ISRAEL, Israel, ITALY, JAPAN, SPAIN, Gdansk

☆ Meta offers to limit use of ad data to address UK competition concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 26 (Reuters) - Britain's competition watchdog on Friday said social media giant Meta (META.O) had offered to limit its use of other businesses' advertising data for its Facebook Marketplace service to address the regulator's competition concerns. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was minded to accept the commitments, which include advertisers being able to opt out of allowing their data to be used to improve the Facebook Marketplace classified ads platform. CMA executive director of enforcement Michael Grenfell said: "Reducing the risk of Meta unfairly exploiting the data of businesses who advertise on its platform for its own competitive advantage could help many UK businesses who advertise there. "We are now consulting on these commitments which we believe, at this stage, will address our concerns." Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Microsoft sets out grounds for Activision appeal against UK regulator
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, May 26 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) is challenging Britain's decision to block its $69 billion takeover of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) on the grounds of "fundamental errors" in the assessment of Microsoft's cloud gaming services. Britain's anti-trust regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), vetoed the deal in April, saying it could hurt competition in the nascent cloud gaming market, sparking a furious row. Microsoft confirmed on Wednesday it had filed an appeal against the ruling to Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), and a summary of its arguments was published on Friday. It said the CMA's conclusion that the deal would lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the United Kingdom's cloud gaming market was wrong, according to the summary. ISetting out five grounds for appeal in total, it also said it would challenge the CMA's understanding of the cloud gaming market and the impact of the deal.

☆ Microsoft wins EU antitrust approval for Activision deal vetoed by UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard's games characters in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. Microsoft has in recent months signed licensing deals with Nvidia (NVDA.O), Nintendo (7974.T), Ukraine's Boosteroid and Japan's Ubitus to bring Activision games to their platforms should the deal go through. "The European Commission has required Microsoft to license popular Activision Blizzard games automatically to competing cloud gaming services. CLOUD GAMING MARKET GROWTHVestager said the Commission had a different view from UK regulators of how the game streaming market, which accounted for just 1% of the total market last year, would develop. "Microsoft and Activision’s lawyers will also use the decision to provide greater ballast to their appeal of the CMA's decision."

☆ Regulators are starting to investigate how to deal with the rapid rise of consumer AI like ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Regulators are starting to investigate how to deal with the rapid rise of consumer AI like ChatGPT. The UK's competition watchdog is reviewing how to make AI accessible but safe to use. US vice president Kamila Harris met with top AI firms on Thursday to discuss safety around AI. The UK government is calling for an investigation into the rapid rise of consumer AI like ChatGPT to create guidance around how to protect and support consumers, businesses, and the economy. Twitter CEO Elon Musk, AI experts, and leaders in the industry including Steve Wozniak and Stability AI CEO Emad Mostaque signed an open letter requesting a pause on the development of AI more powerful than OpenAI's GPT4 as worries mount about the dangers it poses.

☆ UK reviews AI models as rapid growth fuels safety concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Governments around the world are now trying to find a balance whereby they can assess and rein in some of the potential negative consequences of AI without stifling innovation. Britain in March opted to split regulatory responsibility for AI between those bodies that oversee human rights, health and safety, and competition, rather than creating a new body dedicated to the technology. CMA CEO Sarah Cardell said in a statement that AI had burst into the public consciousness and was developing at speed. The review in Britain echoes investigations taking place around the world, from Beijing to Brussels and Washington. Italy, a G7 member, took ChatGPT offline last month to investigate its potential breach of personal data rules.

☆ UK competition regulator launches review of AI models
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - Britain's competition regulator launched an initial review of artificial intelligence models on Thursday, saying it will look into competition and consumer protection considerations in the development and use of AI foundation models. "It’s crucial that the potential benefits of this transformative technology are readily accessible to UK businesses and consumers while people remain protected from issues like false or misleading information," Competition and Markets Authority CEO Sarah Cardell said in a statement. Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Adobe's $20 billion Figma buyout deal under UK competition watchdog scanner
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Britain's competition watchdog said on Wednesday it was looking into Adobe Inc 's $20 billion buyout deal for cloud-based designer platform Figma to find if it could lead to "substantial lessening of competition" in the country. The move underlines regulators' worries that large tech firms acquiring smaller innovative rivals could throttle competition. UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last week blocked U.S. software giant Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard over concerns it would hinder cloud gaming. CMA said it has set June 30 as the deadline for its phase 1 decision on the the Adobe-Figma deal. Figma said it would "continue to engage constructively with regulators in the UK".

☆ Apple fights $2 bln London lawsuit for 'throttling' millions of iPhones
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Sam Tobin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) urged a London tribunal on Tuesday to block a $2 billion mass lawsuit accusing it of hiding defective batteries in millions of iPhones by "throttling" them with software updates. The tech giant is facing a lawsuit worth up to 1.6 billion pounds plus interest, brought by consumer champion Justin Gutmann on behalf of iPhone users in the United Kingdom. Gutmann's lawyers argued in court filings that Apple concealed issues with batteries in certain phone models and "surreptitiously" installed a power management tool which limited performance. Apple had also committed to be "clearer and more upfront" with iPhone users about battery health to Britain's competition watchdog in 2019, Moser said. The company denies misleading its customers about iPhone battery issues and points to a public apology it issued in 2017, offering cheaper battery replacements to affected customers.

☆ Explainer: What next for Microsoft's $69 billion Activision deal after UK ban?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday blocked Microsoft's (MSFT.O) $69 billion acquisition of 'Call of Duty' maker Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) over concerns it would hinder cloud gaming. The regulator's decision reflected a flawed understanding of the market, it said. Microsoft can appeal to Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), an independent judicial body, which will only examine the CMA's decision-making process, not the merits of the merger. "The CAT aims to deal with 'straightforward' cases in under nine months – and Microsoft/Activision is anything but straightforward," Lane, said. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint to block the deal, which Microsoft has indicated it will fight.

☆ Explainer: What next for Microsoft's $69 bln Activision deal after UK ban?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The regulator's decision reflected a flawed understanding of the market, it said. Microsoft can appeal to Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), an independent judicial body, which will only examine the CMA's decision-making process, not the merits of the merger. "The CAT aims to deal with 'straightforward' cases in under nine months – and Microsoft/Activision is anything but straightforward," Lane, said. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint to block the deal, which Microsoft has indicated it will fight. The regulator then "identified certain potential errors" in its investigation chaired by Martin Coleman, who also oversaw the Microsoft-Activision case.

☆ FTC chair met UK antitrust officials last week but did not talk deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Graeme Jennings/Pool via REUTERSWASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan met with the heads of other antitrust enforcers, including Britain's, last week but no mergers were discussed, according to an FTC official who spoke amid allegations the FTC and UK are working together to block Microsoft's bid for Activision. The FTC official, speaking on Thursday, was responding to comments made by the game-maker's CEO, Bobby Kotick, who told CNBC he believed that the U.S. agency had pushed Britain's CMA to stop the planned acquisition. Kotick said: "I was surprised to learn that Lina Khan and the head of the CMA had a meeting a week and a half ago in Washington. The FTC official, who was not authorized to speak on the record but who was present at the virtual meeting, said that officials had no discussions of any mergers being reviewed or other ongoing investigations. When a deal appears blatantly anticompetitive then independent antitrust regulators can simply make their own judgments," said spokesperson Douglas Farrar.

☆ Cloud, not consoles, blocks Microsoft's Activision view in UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - For all the thunder about Xbox versus PlayStation, it was the nascent cloud market that led to Britain's surprise decision to block Microsoft's record Activision Blizzard (ATVI.O) takeover. That only answered the CMA's console concerns, leaving cloud gaming as the only remaining - and apparently lower - hurdle. Defining cloud gaming is not simple. The CMA disagreed, saying that cloud was the most rapidly growing sector in gaming, while consoles were a mature market. It said Microsoft already accounted for 60-70% of global cloud gaming services and had other trump cards: Xbox, the leading PC operating system Windows and cloud provider Azure.

☆ UK financial watchdog intervenes to cut building insurance costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog has proposed changes to cut the cost of insuring residential apartment blocks, saying intervention was needed to prevent wrongful use of commission. The proposals announced on Friday follow a review after the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London, which killed 72 people and led to big increases to building insurance costs. The FCA published a consultation paper on its proposals alongside a review of 16 insurance brokers' sales to blocks of apartments between January 2019 and September 2022. "Brokers were often unable to articulate what insurance-related services or benefits of value were provided by the parties sharing commission," the watchdog said. Leaseholders would have transparency on insurance costs and ability to challenge poor value under the FCA proposals.

☆ Google to open up UK in-app payments to satisfy regulator's concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 19 (Reuters) - Britain's competition regulator said proposals from Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google to give app developers the freedom to break away from Google Play's billing system looked to be sufficient to address its concerns about in-app payments. Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in June that Google's complete control over in-app payments unfairly restricted developers by forcing them to use Google Play's billing system, reducing competition and hurting users. "Under the commitments, developers will be able to add an alternative in-app billing system, alongside Google Play's billing system, for their mobile and tablet users in the UK," Google said in a blog post. "At checkout, users will be able to choose which billing system to use." The CMA invited comments on Google's proposals by May 19 before it makes a final judgment.

☆ Britain seeks to boost banking services from fintechs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"While significant progress has been made, there is more to be done to deliver the full benefits of open banking within retail banking markets, and beyond," the statement said. The recommendations from regulators will keep up momentum in open banking and extend its benefits to other sectors, said Marion King, chair of Open Banking Limited, which checks on whether the nine banks comply with open banking rules on customer data. Britain is keen to push open banking to the next stage following Brexit to attract more fintechs to set up in Britain as the European Union is poised to compete with its own version of open banking. The data protection draft law, now going through parliament, will be used to put open banking on a sustainable footing, Griffith said. "We now need to see proportionate regulation," said Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, the UK fintech industry body.

☆ UK antitrust regulator looks at Amazon's takeover of vacuum maker iRobot
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - Britain is to investigate Amazon.com's anticipated takeover of robot vacuum maker iRobot Corp (IRBT.O), the country's competition regulator said on Thursday. The e-commerce giant's planned $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot, aimed at expanding its stable of smart home devices, is already being reviewed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Britain's Competition and Markets Authority said it is also now considering whether the deal could reduce competition in the connected device market. Invitations to comment on the combination are now open, said the CMA. Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK to examine Broadcom's $61 bln VMware deal in depth
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A smartphone with a displayed Broadcom logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoMarch 29 (Reuters) - Britain said it would investigate Broadcom's (AVGO.O) acquisition of VMware (VMW.N) in depth after the U.S. chipmaker offered no immediate undertakings in response to its concerns about the impact of the $61 billion deal on the server market. Britain's Competition and Markets Authority said earlier this month that Broadcom's acquisition of the cloud computing and virtualisation company could drive up the cost of computer parts and software for servers. Broadcom said earlier this month that it was working constructively with the regulator and it would demonstrate that the deal would enhance competition and would benefit businesses and consumers. Reporting by Sinchita Mitra in Bengaluru and Paul Sandle in London; Editing by Anil D'Silva and William JamesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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