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☆ Asia's answer to Chipotle is now a $1.5 billion public company
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Shubhangi Goel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read previewAsia's version of Chipotle — a Mexican fast-casual chain called Guzman y Gomez — just went public in Australia. The initial public offering brings GYG's valuation to 2.2 billion Australian dollars, or $1.47 billion. The US-based Mexican fast food chain is valued at $94 billion and posted a revenue of nearly $10 billion last year. Chipotle owns and operates all of its restaurants, unlike GYG, which follows a franchise model. They are only available to institutional investors, eligible employees and franchise holders, and retail clients of brokerages who have been allocated GYG shares, the company said in a pre-IPO release.

Persons: —, Guzman y Gomez —, GYG, Steven Marks, Marks, Chipotle, Michael Hutchens, didn't, Hutchens, brokerages Organizations: Service, Australian Securities Exchange, Business, Morningstar, Growth Partners, Barrenjoey, Cooper Investors, Hyperion Asset Management, Firetrail Investments, QVG Locations: Mexican, Australia, Sydney, Singapore, Japan, North America, Europe

☆ Embattled AI firm Appen loses more executives, months after Alphabet cut ties
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-22 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Appen, the embattled artificial intelligence firm that once helped train AI models for tech giants including Microsoft , Nvidia and Google , has lost its executives in charge of revenue and marketing. The departures follow Alphabet 's announcement in January that it was cutting all contractual ties with Appen, which once helped train Google's chatbot and other AI products. Two weeks after that decision, Appen CEO Armughan Ahmad left after just 12 months on the job. After a "strategic review process," Alphabet notified Appen in January of the termination, which went into effect March 19, according to a filing from Appen. Companies are spending far more on processors from Nvidia and less on external AI training from companies like Appen.

Persons: Andrew Ettinger, Alicia Hale, Ryan Kolln, Google's, Armughan Ahmad, Appen's, Kolln, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Appen didn't Organizations: Microsoft, Nvidia, Google, CNBC, Apple, Amazon, Appen, Australian Securities Exchange Locations: Australian

☆ Investor Tribeca presents Glencore with ideas to raise shareholder value – How it may unfold
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Tribeca has been a shareholder of Glencore for seven years and has been engaging with management for a year. The company has excellent core asset quality in copper, zinc and coal, as well as a world-leading commodity trading business. Notably, Bluebell Capital Partners agitated for a demerger of Glencore's thermal coal business in 2021. However, in 2023, after acquiring a 77% interest in Teck's steelmaking coal business, Glencore stated its intention to demerge its combined coal and carbon steel businesses. The same can be said for the divestment of the trading business.

Persons: Glencore, David Aylward, Gary Nagle, astutely, Berkshire Hathaway, Ivan Glasenberg, Ken Squire Organizations: Glencore, Tribeca Investment Partners, Tribeca, Financial Times, Australian Securities Exchange, London Stock Exchange, BHP, Rio Tinto, Bluebell Capital Partners, LSE, Rio, NYSE, 13D Locations: Switzerland, Australia, Africa, South America, Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, London, Tribeca, Glencore, Swiss, Rio, Europe, cyclicality, Berkshire

☆ Alphabet cuts ties with Australian AI firm that helped train Bard and Google Search
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai departs federal court on October 30, 2023 in Washington, DC. Appen, based in Australia, has helped train AI models for a star-studded list of tech behemoths. Five customers — Microsoft , Apple , Meta , Google and Amazon — have in the past accounted for 80% of Appen's revenue. Alphabet accounted for roughly one-third of Appen's revenue, meaning the decision to end the relationship will impact "at least two thousand subcontracted Alphabet workers," according to a statement Monday from the Alphabet Workers Union. Alphabet has cut contractual ties with Appen , the artificial intelligence data firm that helped train Google's chatbot Bard, Google Search results and other AI products.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Pichai, Appen, Bard, Appen's, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard, didn't, Bard chatbot Organizations: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet Workers, Appen, Revenue, Australian Securities Exchange, CNBC, Adobe, Nvidia, U.S . National Labor Relations Board Locations: Washington ,, Australia

☆ Australia goes on cyber offensive with sweeping resilience plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Broken Ethernet cable is seen in front of binary code and words "cyber security" in this illustration taken March 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSYDNEY, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Australia will give cyber health checks for small businesses, increase cyber law enforcement funding and introduce mandatory reporting of ransomware attacks under a security overhaul announced on Wednesday after a spate of attacks. "We cannot continue as we have," Cyber Security and Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil told reporters in Sydney. Unveiling the seven-year strategy, O'Neil said that while large businesses received some of the biggest cyber attacks, they typically recovered, but attacks on small and medium-size businesses could be terminal. "Minister O'Neil's Strategy establishes cyber security as a unifying nationwide endeavour," he added.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Clare O'Neil, O'Neil, Aidan Tudehope, O'Neil's, telco, Byron Kaye, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Labor, Security, Home Affairs, Australian Cyber Security, U.S, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Macquarie Technology, telco Optus, Singapore Telecommunications, Medibank, Thomson Locations: Australia, Sydney, Britain

☆ Australia regulator targets 'carbon neutral' claims in greenwashing crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Office buildings are seen amidst the easing of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in the Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, June 3, 2020. ASIC has filed three lawsuits alleging unfounded environmental claims by two pension funds and a personal finance platform, and named so-called greenwashing as one of its priority enforcement areas for 2024. she added.,The regulator would hold investment distribution platforms accountable for the products they sell. So far, the regulator had issued interim orders to stop the distribution of some 80 investment products which it considered inappropriate. "For a number of those stop orders, the issuers of the products did step back, they've corrected ... and they've reissued it," she said.

Persons: Loren Elliott, Sarah Court, they've, Byron Kaye, Ayushman, Subhranshu Sahu, Miral Organizations: Central Business District of, REUTERS, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Thomson Locations: Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, Melbourne, Sydney

☆ Australian bourse operator partners with TCS for long due trading software overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Himanshi Akhand | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A board displaying stock prices is adorned with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) logo in central Sydney, Australia, February 13, 2018. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 20 (Reuters) - Australian bourse operator ASX Ltd (ASX.AX) said on Monday it entered a deal with TATA Consultancy Services (TCS) <TCS.NS> to design and replace its trading, clearing and settlement system, after months of backlash since pulling a blockchain-based overhaul of the system last year. The estimated cost for the first release of the Clearing House Electronic Subregister System (CHESS) project is between A$105 million ($68.33 million) and A$125 million, to be incurred over multiple years, ASX said. ASX's initial attempt to overhaul CHESS earned rebuke from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and Reserve Bank of Australia, with the regulators demanding more thorough reporting on plans to update the 30-year-old software. ($1 = 1.5366 Australian dollars)Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru Editing by Chris Reese and Diane CraftOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: David Gray, Joe Longo, Helen Lofthouse, Himanshi, Chris Reese, Diane Craft Organizations: Australian Securities Exchange, REUTERS, TATA Consultancy Services, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Reserve Bank of Australia, Accenture, TCS, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Australian, Bengaluru

A board displaying stock prices is adorned with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) logo in central Sydney, Australia, February 13, 2018. That will, however, take time, with the overhaul now expected to finish in 2029, some 13 years after it began. It also prompted the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to open an investigation into the exchange's disclosures about the project. ASX said it expected the first stage of the new project, clearing software, to cost between A$105 million and A$125 million with delivery around 2026. The cost and timing of the settlement and other software will be decided in 2024.

Persons: David Gray, Tim Whiteley, Joe Longo, Longo, Byron Kaye, Himanshi, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: Australian Securities Exchange, REUTERS, Tata Consultancy Services, New, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, India, Finland, Canada, New York, Bengaluru

☆ Asia markets head for mixed session as investors digest Biden-Xi meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

People are reflected in a glass while looking at electronic boards displaying stock information at the Australian Securities Exchange. Asia-Pacific markets geared up for a mixed session Thursday as investors digested high-level discussions between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, while it was left to be seen if optimism about further signs of cooling U.S. inflation would carry through the day. Biden and Xi met Wednesday outside of San Francisco in their first face-to-face encounter in a year. Separately, the South Korea stock market was set to open an hour later than usual, at 10 a.m. South Korea time. The delayed open is intended to ease rush-hour traffic as college entrance exams were administrated across the country.

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Biden, Xi Organizations: Australian Securities Exchange ., Economic Cooperation, U.S, South Locations: Australian Securities Exchange . Asia, Pacific, San Francisco, Asia, China, South Korea

Broken Ethernet cable is seen in front of binary code and words "cyber security" in this illustration taken March 8, 2022. "We're also seeing a greater interest from state actors in Australia's critical infrastructure." In May, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance and Microsoft (MSFT.O) said a state-sponsored Chinese hacking group was spying on U.S. critical infrastructure organisations. Techniques used by the China hacking group could be used against Australia's critical infrastructure including telecommunications, energy and transportation, the report said. Marles said Australia's relationship with China, its largest trading partner, was "complex" and the government had never pretended the relationship would be easy.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, cybercrime, Richard Marles, We're, Marles, Matthew Warren, Nigel Phair, Renju Jose, Byron Kaye, Lincoln, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Australian Cyber Security, ABC Radio, Microsoft, RMIT University Centre, Cyber Security Research, Australian Securities and Investments, Australia, Monash University, DP, Optus, Thomson Locations: Britain, U.S, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, China, Sydney

☆ As oil prices rise, these global stocks are set to outperform: Bank of America
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Amala Balakrishner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has seen oil prices jump as investors consider the risk of wider geopolitical issues across the Middle East. These rising prices will benefit a number of stocks, according to Paulina Strzelinska, quant strategist at Bank of America. Outperformers when natural gas prices rise In a separate screen, Bank of America revealed its list of companies that tend to outperform when natural gas prices rise. Equinor is listed on both the Oslo Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, while Rio Tinto is listed on the London Stock Exchange and Australian Securities Exchange. Meanwhile Anglo American has a dual listing on the London Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Persons: Paulina Strzelinska, Brent, Duncan Wanbald, — CNBC's Michael Bloom, Sam Meredith Organizations: Hamas, Bank of America, Bank, Boliden, Royce, Aegon, Galp Energia, Wolters Kluwer, London Stock Exchange, Oslo Stock Exchange, Nasdaq, Rio Tinto, Australian Securities Exchange, Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Reuters Locations: Israel, Europe, Antofagasta, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Rio Tinto, Rio, American, Johannesburg

☆ Aussie lender ANZ loses case over troubled 2015 share placement worth $1.6 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The landmark case reaffirms the importance of the continuous disclosure rules to maintain market integrity," the ASIC said in a statement on Friday. "The decision also confirms that a significant take-up of shares by underwriters in a capital raising may be considered price sensitive information requiring market disclosure." The maximum penalty under the court decision is A$1 million, ANZ said. The bank is reviewing the court judgement, it said, while the securities regulator said it would now make submissions on appropriate penalties. ($1 = 1.5838 Australian dollars)Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Steven Saphore, Sameer Manekar, Rashmi Organizations: New Zealand Banking Group, ANZ, REUTERS, Australia's ANZ, underwriters, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Citigroup Inc, Deutsche Bank AG, Australian Competition, Consumer Commission, Thomson Locations: Australia, Sydney, Bengaluru

☆ Virgin Australia clocks first profit in 11 years as travel demand recovers
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aircraft from Australia's second largest airline, Virgin Australia, sit on the tarmac at the domestic terminal of Sydney Airport in Australia, August 19, 2018. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 10 (Reuters) - Bain Capital-owned Virgin Australia said on Tuesday that the airline returned to a profit for the first time in 11 years for fiscal 2023, buoyed by a strong recovery in travel demand following the COVID-19 pandemic. The carrier reported a statutory net profit after tax of A$129 million ($82.93 million) for the full year ended June 30, 2023, compared with a loss of A$565.5 million in 2022. Virgin Australia now has a considerably stronger balance sheet with continued significant improvement in its cost base, CFO Race Strauss said in a statement on Tuesday. Virgin was upbeat on its capital position, reporting total debt including leases of A$2.3 billion and over A$1 billion of cash on the balance sheet.

Persons: David Gray, Bain, Race Strauss, Strauss, Roushni Nair, Nausheen, Rashmi Organizations: Virgin, Sydney Airport, REUTERS, Bain Capital, Virgin Australia, Australian Securities Exchange, Reuters, GQG Partners, Airlines, Thomson Locations: Australia's, Virgin Australia, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ PWC Aussie mess is classic do as I say not as I do
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MELBOURNE, Sept 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - PWC Australia is likely to need a long time to recover from what is turning out to be a self-inflicted double whammy. Now the independent review sparked by the furore has laid bare another problem: PWC Australia took a do as I say not as I do approach to running its own shop. The report, commissioned by PWCA in May, written by one of the country’s corporate grandees, Ziggy Switkowski, and published on Wednesday, outlines a series of corporate governance failures. What’s worse, and even more ironic, is PWC Australia’s aversion to tapping external advice. Many of the changes will come from applying, “to the extent feasible”, the Australian Securities Exchange’s corporate governance principles and recommendations.

Persons: Tom Seymour, PWCA, Ziggy Switkowski, “, Kevin Burrowes, That’s, Una Galani, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, Lehman Brothers, Silicon Valley Bank, Australian Securities, Thomson Locations: MELBOURNE, Australia, Silicon

☆ Australia fines lender ANZ $9.6 mln for misleading customers over funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian is reflected in the window of a branch of ANZ in central Sydney, Australia, October 25, 2017. The Australian lender falsely indicated to customers that they could avail cash advance from funds stated to be their 'Available Funds' without incurring fees and interest, according to the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). The error resulted in customers being charged with thousands of dollars in fees while the average remediation paid was around $45 per affected account. "Many ANZ customers relied on the account information displayed by the bank and were charged fees that were inconsistent with that information," said ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court. "ANZ accepts responsibility for what has occurred and apologises to its customers, and has addressed the issues that gave rise to the contraventions," the lender said.

Persons: Steven Saphore, Sarah, Himanshi Akhand, Aishwarya Nair, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: ANZ, REUTERS, ANZ Group Holdings, Australian Securities & Investments Commission, National Consumer Credit, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ Australia fines lender NAB $1.4 mln for wrongfully charging fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The National Australia Bank Logo is seen on a branch in central Sydney, Australia, February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies National Australia Bank Ltd FollowSept 22 (Reuters) - The Australian Federal Court has fined the country's second-biggest lender National Australia Bank (NAB) <NAB.AX> a penalty of A$2.1 million ($1.4 million) for wrongfully charging customers periodic payment fees, the securities regulator said on Friday. Between January 2017 and July 2018, National Australia Bank continued to charge its customers periodic payment fees for transferring money despite knowing it had no contractual entitlement to do so, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) said. The bank wrongfully charged 2,888 personal banking customers and 513 business clients payment fees totalling A$139,845 on 74,593 occasions, the regulator added. Shares of NAB were trading 0.7% lower as of 0221 GMT after declining as much as 1.3% earlier in the day.

Persons: Daniel Munoz, Sarah Court, Sameer Manekar, Ayushman, Janane Venkatraman, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: National, REUTERS, National Australia Bank, Australian Federal Court, Australia Bank, Australian Securities & Investments Commission, NAB, Reuters, Royal Commission, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ Australia fines lender NAB $1.4 million for wrongfully charging fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The National Australia Bank Logo is seen on a branch in central Sydney, Australia, February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies National Australia Bank Ltd FollowSept 22 (Reuters) - The Australian Federal Court has fined the country's second-biggest lender National Australia Bank (NAB) <NAB.AX> a penalty of A$2.1 million ($1.4 million) for wrongfully charging customers periodic payment fees, the securities regulator said on Friday. Between January 2017 and July 2018, National Australia Bank continued to charge its customers periodic payment fees for transferring money despite knowing it had no contractual entitlement to do so, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) said. The bank wrongfully charged 2,888 personal banking customers and 513 business clients payment fees totalling A$139,845 on 74,593 occasions, the regulator added. NAB in an email to Reuters acknowledged "some customers were incorrectly charged for periodical payment fees several years ago," adding that it had completed a remediation program and repaid more than A$8.3 million to affected customers.

☆ Australian regulator sues crypto exchange for design, distribution failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Sept 21 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate regulator said on Thursday it had initiated civil proceedings against Bit Trade Pty Ltd, provider of the Kraken crypto exchange to Australian customers, for failing to comply with design and distribution obligations for its margin trading product. The design and distribution obligations (DDO) require firms to design financial products that meet the needs of consumers and distribute them in a targeted manner. Bit Trade's margin trading product is a credit facility as it provides customers credit to buy and sell certain crypto assets on the Kraken exchange, ASIC said. It said at least 1,160 customers had used the margin trading product, incurring a total loss of about A$12.95 million ($8.35 million) since DDO began in October 2021. ($1 = 1.5516 Australian dollars)Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja DesaiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: DDO, Sarah Court, Himanshi, Pooja Desai Organizations: Bit Trade, Ltd, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Regulator sues AustralianSuper over multiple pension accounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Roushni Nair | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 8 (Reuters) - The Australian securities regulator said on Friday it initiated a lawsuit against the trustee of AustralianSuper, citing the country's largest superannuation fund failed to have adequate policies to identify members who held multiple accounts. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) started civil penalty proceedings alleging that AustralianSuper did not have substantial procedures for almost 10 years to help merge multiple accounts of a single member. AustralianSuper has more than 2.87 million members and A$258 billion ($164.48 billion) in member assets, as of June 30, 2022, according to the ASIC. "AustralianSuper regrets that its processes to identify and combine multiple accounts did not cover all instances of multiple member accounts. As of June 2022, three million people had multiple superannuation accounts in Australia, ASIC stated, adding that a significant proportion of these multiple accounts were held within the same fund.

Persons: Loren Elliott, AustralianSuper, Sarah Court, Hebe Chen, unreservedly, Roushni Nair, Devika Syamnath, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: REUTERS, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, IG Markets, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Australian, Bengaluru

☆ Australian regulator sues PayPal unit over unfair term in small business contracts
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The PayPal logo is seen at an office building in Berlin, Germany, March 5, 2019. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it has started proceedings against PayPal Australia Pty Ltd in a case that highlights a contract term that gives PayPal business account holders 60 days to notify discrepancies in fees charged. The regulator views the term as unfair as it authorises PayPal to retain fees it has inaccurately charged. "We allege this term is unfair because it allows PayPal to escape the consequences of its own errors in overcharging small businesses, and places additional burdens on small businesses to detect and correct charging errors," ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said. As at June 30, there were about 608,275 business account contracts between PayPal and active users in the country.

Persons: Fabrizio Bensch, Sarah Court, Roushni Nair, Poonam Behura, Shailesh Organizations: PayPal, REUTERS, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, PayPal Australia, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Berlin, Germany, Bengaluru

☆ Australia passes law to encourage competition for main market operator ASX
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A pedestrian is reflected in a window where an investor sits looking at a board displaying stock prices at the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in Sydney, Australia February 9, 2018. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies ASX Ltd FollowSYDNEY, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Australia passed a law on Wednesday to support competition in post-trade settlement and clearing for financial markets, challenging the near-monopoly status held by ASX Ltd (ASX.AX). After ASX cancelled a costly overhaul of its trading platform, the federal government said it was opening up the market to let other players in. Though Australian financial regulators have called for greater competition in clearing and settlement functions for years, a failed overhaul of ASX's all-in-one legacy software system renewed pressure from market participants to challenge its near-monopoly. In other major financial markets, clearing and settlement, or confirming the transfer of stock ownership and updating share registries, are managed by separate entities to the market operator.

Persons: David Gray, Jim Chalmers, Byron Kaye, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Australian Securities Exchange, REUTERS, ASX Ltd, Senate, Reserve Bank of Australia, Australian Securities and Investments, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia

☆ The generative AI boom should have been Appen's time to shine. Here's what went wrong
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

For Appen, that would mean finding specialists in particular types of information that can bolster generative AI systems. Even before the generative AI transition, wages for Appen's data labelers were a sticking point. Kim Stagg, Appen's vice president of product, said the work required for generative AI services was different than what the company has needed in the past. "With generative AI, we see a different demand." The company's plunging stock price suggests that investors don't see the company's business offerings transferring to the generative AI space.

Persons: Jonathan Raa, Mike Monegan, he'd, Appen, it's, Armughan Ahmad, Mark Brayan, Ahmad, Monegan, he's, Appen's, Helen Johnson, Fab Dolan, Sujatha Sagiraju, Elena Sagunova, Jen Cole, Jukka Korpi, Still, OpenAI's, Google's Bard, didn't, Bard chatbot, Ed Stackhouse, raters, Erik Vogt, Vogt, hadn't, Kim Stagg, we've, Stagg, Lisa Braden, Harder, Canaccord Organizations: Nurphoto, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Revenue, CNBC, Australian Securities Exchange, Adobe, U.S . National Labor Relations Board Locations: Seattle, Europe, Middle East, Africa

☆ Westpac acknowledges legal proceedings on financial hardships negligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Loren Elliott Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Westpac Banking Corp FollowSept 4 (Reuters) - Australia's Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX) on Tuesday said it was aware of legal proceedings launched by the country's corporate regulator alleging the lender's failure to assist its customers with financial hardship notices between 2015 and 2022. The legal proceedings are linked with a "technology failure" in which the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) claimed 229 applications for financial hardship assistance logged between 2015 and 2022 were not evaluated within 21 days, Westpac said in an email response to Reuters. "This error meant we didn't provide some of our customers with the help they needed. For this, we are deeply sorry," said Westpac Group Chief Information Officer Scott Collary. Over the alleged period of breach, Westpac received about 630,000 applications for hardship assistance, the company told Reuters.

Persons: Loren Elliott, Scott Collary, Roushni Nair, Sandra Maler Organizations: Westpac, Central Business District of, REUTERS, Rights Companies Westpac Banking, Australia's Westpac Banking Corp, Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Reuters, Westpac Group, Australia's National, Thomson Locations: Central Business District of Sydney, Australia, Bengaluru

☆ Aussie corporate regulator alleges IAG units misled home insurance customers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Small toy figures are seen in front of displayed IAG (Insurance Australia Group) logo in this illustration taken, November 8, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/file photo Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies IMA and IAL misled customers about loyalty discountsIAG says units intend to defend the proceedingsRegulator is seeking declarations of contravention, pecuniary penalties and adverse publicity ordersAug 25 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate regulator said on Friday it filed a lawsuit against two units of Insurance Australia Group (IAG) (IAG.AX), alleging they misled customers about loyalty discounts available for certain types of home insurance policies. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has commenced civil proceedings against Insurance Australia Ltd (IAL) and Insurance Manufacturers of Australia (IMA) in the Federal Court, alleging loyal customers may have had their premiums increased before the promised discounts were applied. "IMA and IAL do not agree that they have misled customers and intend to defend the proceedings further," IAG said in a separate release. The regulator is seeking declarations of contravention, pecuniary penalties and adverse publicity orders against IAL and IMA from the court.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, IAG, Sarah Court, IAL, Nausheen, Krishna Chandra Eluri Organizations: Insurance, REUTERS, Insurance Australia Group, Australian Securities & Investments Commission, Insurance Australia Ltd, Insurance Manufacturers of Australia, Federal, IMA, IAL, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ It's been a challenging year for IPOs — globally and for us, ASX CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailIt's been a challenging year for IPOs — globally and for us, ASX CEO saysHelen Lofthouse, CEO of the Australian Securities Exchange, says there were "no surprises" in its results.

Persons: IPOs, Helen Lofthouse Organizations: Australian Securities Exchange

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