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TOKYO, June 2 (Reuters) - Japan's privacy watchdog said on Friday it has warned OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) startup behind the ChatGPT chatbot, not to collect sensitive data without people's permission. OpenAI should minimise the sensitive data it collects for machine learning, the Personal Information Protection Commission said in a statement, adding it may take further action if it has more concerns. The watchdog noted the need to balance privacy concerns with the potential benefits of generative AI including in accelerating innovation and dealing with problems such as climate change. The EU, a global trendsetter on tech regulation, is working on what could be the first set of rules to govern AI. Reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Sam Nussey; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Fumio, Kishida, Altman, Kantaro Komiya, Sam Nussey, Jacqueline Wong, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Microsoft, EU, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Japan

☆ Japan privacy watchdog warns ChatGPT-maker OpenAI on data collection
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, June 2 (Reuters) - Japan's privacy watchdog on Friday said it has warned OpenAI, the Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) startup behind the ChatGPT chatbot, to not collect sensitive data without individuals' permission. The Personal Information Protection Commission in a statement said OpenAI should minimise the sensitive data it collects for machine learning and added it may take further action if it has more concerns. The warning comes as regulators around the world are scrambling to draw up rules governing the use of generative artificial intelligence, which can create text and images and whose impact has been compared by proponents to the arrival of the internet. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in April met with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and announced a plan to expand services in Japan, ahead of the Group of Seven (G7) leaders summit where Kishida led the discussion on regulating AI. Reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Sam Nussey; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: OpenAI, Sam Altman, Fumio Kishida, Kishida, Kantaro Komiya, Sam Nussey, Jacqueline Wong, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Microsoft, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Japan

☆ SoftBank shares swept up in AI chip frenzy ahead of Arm IPO
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Sam Nussey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, June 2 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) shares jumped 5% in early Friday trade as the technology investor - which is preparing an initial public offering of chip designer Arm - was caught up in a frenzy for semiconductor and artificial intelligence-related stocks. The Japanese conglomerate, which has been hit by the slumping value of its tech portfolio, has seen its shares gain 17% since last week's close. On Friday, SoftBank passed the psychological level of 6,000 yen for the first time since February. "We expressed a view that SBG stock will rally ahead of the ARM IPO later in the year... "He feels that 'finally my time has come'," SoftBank Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto told reporters at an earnings briefing last month.

Persons: SoftBank, Jefferies, Atul Goyal, Masayoshi Son, Yoshimitsu Goto, Sam Nussey, Jacqueline Wong, Christopher Cushing Organizations: SoftBank Group Corp, U.S, Nvidia Corp, Semiconductor, ARM, Advantest Corp, Tokyo Electron, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, Philadelphia

Venkatakrishnan's intervention underscores the pressure that the British bank is under to protect its U.S. investment banking franchise. Venkatakrishnan promised during the meeting to invest in the investment banking business to boost morale, the sources said. Miller left Barclays to join Jefferies last month, while Barclays only announced a new role for Astier this week, naming him global head of financial sponsors. Still, the exodus that Venkatakrishnan and other Barclays executives have been trying to stem has continued apace. But it was its consumer, cards and payments division, rather than investment banking, that led the charge.

Persons: C.S, Venkatakrishnan, dealmakers, Cathal Deasy, Morgan Stanley, Taylor Wright, Marco Valla, Deasy, John Miller, Jean, Francois Astier, Miller, Jefferies, Jim Rossman, Christopher Ludwig, Pete Contrucci, Evan Rothenberg, Daniel Kerstein, Contrucci, Rothenberg, Kerstein, Milana Vinn, Abigail Summerville, David Carnevali, Svea Herbst, Bayliss, Anirban Sen, Greg Roumeliotis, Christopher Cushing Organizations: YORK, Barclays, Citigroup Inc, UBS Group AG, Jefferies Financial Group Inc, Reuters, Credit Suisse Group AG, UBS, Lazard Ltd, Credit Suisse, Svea, Thomson Locations: Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, United States, New York, Rhode Island

☆ Column: Poland defies big polluter expectations with coal use cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

So instead of emerging as a climate laggard compared to wealthier European peers, Poland is keeping pace with the cuts to coal use and power emissions seen elsewhere, and may soon force emissions forecasters to trim their future pollution projections across the region. TARGETED CUTSEmissions forecasters using planned power generation data from major economies estimate that Europe's total carbon dioxide emissions will drop by 47% from 2022's total by 2030, largely due to planned steep cuts to coal use in Germany. Over the same time frame, Poland's electricity generation from coal has dropped by roughly 20%, resulting in an equal magnitude drop in coal-fired emissions. PRICE PAINGoing forward, a key factor that will drive Poland's overall electricity demand will be the price of it. If coal prices remain stubbornly strong relative to gas, then Poland's power producers may find themselves in the unenviable position of potentially ranking among the highest cost electricity generators in Europe.

Persons: Gavin Maguire, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Poland, European Union, World Bank, COVID, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LITTLETON , Colorado, Poland, Germany, Western Europe, Europe, France, The Netherlands, Spain

One of them, Glass Lewis, recommended shareholders vote against re-electing Toyoda, citing what it said was his responsibility for the lack of a sufficiently independent board. CalPERS, which declined to comment, is the largest U.S. public pension fund with some $450 billion in assets under management. The New York City pension funds held 6.7 million shares in Toyota Group companies, including Toyota Boshoku (3116.T) and Toyota Tsusho (8015.T) as of end March. BOARD INDEPENDENCENew York City Comptroller Brad Lander said the Toyota board was not adequately independent, in a statement explaining the vote by the funds it oversees. The New York pension system has also urged both Ford (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N) to move rapidly toward electrification and to disclose more about their lobbying on vehicle standards.

Persons: Akio Toyoda, Glass Lewis, Toyoda, CalPERS, Brad Lander, Daniel Leussink, David Dolan, Maki Shiraki, Kevin Krolicki, Jamie Freed, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Toyota Motor Corp, California Public Employees, New York, Toyota, Tokyo Stock Exchange, The, New, Toyota Group, Nikkei, Ford, General Motors, Lexus, Thomson Locations: TOKYO, New York City, York, Tokyo

☆ Netflix shareholders withhold support for executive pay package
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Dawn Chmielewski | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

June 1 (Reuters) - Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) shareholders on Thursday withheld their support for the company's executive pay package, in a non-binding vote that followed a call by striking Hollywood writers to reject the proposed 2023 compensation. "While investors have long taken issue with Netflix's executive pay, the compensation structure is more egregious against the backdrop of the strike," wrote Writers Guild West President Meredith Stiehm. Netflix shareholders withheld support for the executive compensation structure for 2023, in a non-binding "say on pay" vote. Last year, the company's executive pay package won support from just 27% of the shareholder votes cast. After last year's vote, Netflix said it made changes including instituting a salary cap for its co-chief executives and a performance-based bonus plan.

Persons: Guild of America West, Meredith Stiehm, Stiehm, Reed Hastings, Ted Sarandos, Greg Peters, Peters, Ari Emanuel, David Zaslav, Dawn Chmielewski, David Gregorio, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Netflix Inc, Guild of America, Guild West, Comcast Corp, Netflix, Hollywood, Endeavor, Warner Bros Discovery, Alliance, Television Producers, SAG, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles

☆ Hackers use flaw in popular file transfer tool to steal data, researchers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Zeba Siddiqui | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN FRANCISCO, June 1 (Reuters) - Hackers have stolen data from the systems of a number of users of the popular file transfer tool MOVEit Transfer, U.S. security researchers said on Thursday, one day after the maker of the software disclosed that a security flaw had been discovered. Software maker Progress Software Corp (PRGS.O), after disclosing the vulnerability on Wednesday, said it could lead to potential unauthorized access into users' systems. The managed file transfer software made by the Burlington, Massachusetts-based company allows organizations to transfer files and data between business partners and customers. Such "zero-day," or previously unknown, vulnerabilities in managed file transfer solutions have led to data theft, leaks, extortion and victim-shaming in the past, Mandiant said. Pitt did not have a comment on who might have been trying to steal data by exploiting the flaw.

Persons: Ian Pitt, Charles Carmakal, Mandiant, Carmakal, Rapid7, Pitt, Zeba Siddiqui, Christopher Cushing Organizations: FRANCISCO, Progress Software Corp, Software, Reuters, Rapid7 Inc, Mandiant Consulting, Google, Thomson Locations: Burlington , Massachusetts, San Francisco

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, June 1 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian e-commerce and gaming giant Sea Ltd (SE.N) is winding down its investment arm, two people with knowledge of the matter said, amid a cooling investment environment globally as macroeconomic and market uncertainty weigh on valuations. The arm, Sea Capital, stopped new equity investing in 2022 with leadership moving on in May, while Sea itself is placing less priority on investing given market conditions, one of the people said. Singapore-based Sea launched Sea Capital in March 2021 with initial capital of $1 billion after buying Hong Kong's Composite Capital Management, founded by former Hillhouse Capital partner David Ma who became Sea's chief investment officer. One of the people said the decision to wind down Sea Capital was prompted by "less deal activity" resulting in fewer investment opportunities. Sea Capital had made at least three investments, including in 2021 into collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Persons: David Ma, Ma, FTX, Kane Wu, Fanny Potkin, Sumeet Chatterjee, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Capital, Hong Kong's, Capital Management, Hillhouse, Sea, U.S, Asia's, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, Asia, Japan, Singapore, New York, Sea, India, Europe, Hong Kong

☆ Google leads funding round for Indian space startup Pixxel
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BENGALURU, June 1 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google is leading a $36 million funding round for Bengaluru-based Pixxel, a satellite-image startup, in the first major investment in the Indian space sector since the government launched its privatisation policy in April. Pixxel did not specify how much Google had invested or the valuation it reflected. Founder and Chief Executive Awais Ahmed said Pixxel would be "the most valued space tech company in India after this investment". Space startups, in particular, have come under pressure after the bankruptcy of Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit launch company. Ahmed has said he was inspired to launch a space startup from a visit Elon Musk's SpaceX as part of a student competition to build a demonstration "hyperloop" transport pod.

Persons: Pixxel, Awais Ahmed, Ahmed, Richard Branson's Virgin, Kshitij Khandelwal, Nivedita, Kevin Krolicki, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Google, Miner Rio Tinto Ltd, Accenture PLC, Skyroot Aerospace, Reuters, Space, Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit, Elon, SpaceX, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, Bengaluru, Miner Rio, India

☆ Exclusive: JPMorgan to close 21 First Republic Bank branches
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Nupur Anand | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) will shut 21 branches of First Republic Bank by the end of the year as it integrates the failed lender into its operations, a JPMorgan spokesperson said on Thursday. The locations account for about a quarter of First Republic's 84 branches across eight states. "These locations have relatively low transaction volumes and are generally within a short drive from another First Republic office," the spokesperson said. After that, they will be eligible to apply for other roles at JPMorgan, which currently has 13,000 vacancies. JPMorgan is the largest U.S. lender, with more than 296,000 employees and 4,800 branches.

Persons: Nupur Anand, Lananh Nguyen, Christopher Cushing Organizations: YORK, JPMorgan Chase &, First Republic Bank, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: New York

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE, June 1 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian e-commerce and gaming giant Sea Ltd (SE.N) is winding down its investment arm, two people with knowledge of the matter said, amid a cooling investment environment globally as macroeconomic and market uncertainty weigh on valuations. The arm, Sea Capital, stopped new equity investing in 2022 with leadership moving on in May, while Sea itself is placing less priority on investing given market conditions, one of the people said. Singapore-based Sea launched Sea Capital in March 2021 with initial capital of $1 billion after buying Hong Kong's Composite Capital Management, founded by former Hillhouse Capital partner David Ma who became Sea Capital's chief investment officer. One of the people said the decision to wind down Sea Capital was prompted by "less deal activity" resulting in fewer investment opportunities. Sea Capital had made at least three investments, including in 2021 into collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

[1/7] Dev Shah, 14, reacts after winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition in National Harbor, Maryland U.S., June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Leah MillisJune 1 (Reuters) - Dev Shah, a 14-year-old boy from Largo, Florida, won the 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, nailing the word "psammophile," meaning an organism that thrives in sandy soils, in the 15th round of the contest's finals. Shah, a student at Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School, had correctly, and swiftly, spelled "bathypitotmeter" in the 14th round, but under spelling bee rules needed to land one more word to be declared winner. Shah, who was crowned champion in a hail of confetti before being joined on stage by his parents and other relatives, takes home $50,000 cash from E.W. Dev, whose hobbies include reading, tennis, playing the cello and solving math problems, tied for 51st place in the 2019 edition of the spelling bee, and tied for 76th place in 2021.

Persons: Dev Shah, Leah Millis, Charlotte Walsh, Shah, Webster, The Merriam, Dev, Harini Logan, Brendan O'Brien, Steve Gorman, Matthew Lewis, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Scripps, Spelling, National Harbor , Maryland U.S, REUTERS, Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School, Scripps Co, Encyclopedia, The, Webster, ION, ESPN, Thomson Locations: National Harbor , Maryland, Largo , Florida, Arlington , Virginia, Encyclopedia Britannica, Merriam, Washington ,, San Antonio , Texas, Chicago, Los Angeles

☆ Foxconn sees AI driving strong server demand, but full year to be flat
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"You can see the market for AI servers will rise much faster than expected. The Taiwanese company has a 40% global market share for servers and aims to further increase that, Liu added. In the first quarter, Foxconn's cloud and network products segment, which includes servers, accounted for 22% of revenue, second only to smart consumer electronics - which includes smartphones - at 56%. Foxconn, which assembles around 70% of iPhones, has been diversifying production away from China, whose strict COVID-19 restrictions disrupted its biggest iPhone plant last year. Liu said China, including its massive iPhone plant in China's Zhengzhou, remained very important for Foxconn.

Persons: Liu Young, Liu, Foxconn, Jun Seki, Ben Blanchard, Faith Hung, Christopher Cushing Organizations: Apple Inc, Hai Precision Industry Co, General Motor Co, Nissan, EV, Thomson Locations: TAIPEI, Lordstown , Ohio, EVs, Taiwan, United States, Indonesia, India, China, Beijing, Washington, China's Zhengzhou

MEXICO CITY, May 30 (Reuters) - Mexican firm KIO is aiming to double the capacity of its data centers over the next two years, taking advantage of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's drive to boost nearshoring and tech firms' expanding Latin American footprint. "Our growth plan involves creating over the next two years the same capacity we have accumulated in the last 22 years. Sapien added that the adoption of data centers in the region has been slow due to companies' apprehension towards outsourcing the hosting of their data. KIO, which operates in five countries and has 20 data centers in its portfolio, is expanding operations in the northern Mexican city Monterrey after acquiring land for its new data campus. The expansion is strategic for the company as it expects to serve firms coming to Mexico due to the nearshoring trend, said Sapien.

Persons: KIO, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's, Jorge Sapien, Sapien, Nearshoring, Valentine Hilaire, Christopher Cushing Organizations: MEXICO CITY, Monterrey, Thomson Locations: MEXICO, Mexican, Mexico, American, Asia, Panama, Guatemala, Colombia, Spain

WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday its budget deficit projections would be reduced by about $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years if the debt ceiling bill now up for a vote in Congress were enacted in its present form. The projection comes following the debt ceiling deal struck last weekend between Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The bill, if approved by Congress, will prevent the U.S. government from defaulting on its debt and comes after weeks of heated negotiations between Biden and House Republicans. McCarthy has predicted he would have the support of a majority of his fellow Republicans for the deal to lift the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling, and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said he expected Democratic support. Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Jasper Ward; Editing by Sonali Paul and Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy, Biden, McCarthy, Hakeem Jeffries, Kanishka Singh, Jasper Ward, Sonali Paul, Christopher Cushing Organizations: U.S, Congressional, Democratic, Republican, Congress, Biden, House Republicans, Republicans, Thomson Locations: Jasper

☆ Australia's Indigenous recognition bill passes first hurdle
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, May 31 (Reuters) - Legislation to hold a referendum to recognise Australia's Indigenous people in the constitution cleared its first parliamentary hurdle on Wednesday as it was passed in the House of Representatives. Aboriginal people, making up about 3.2% of Australia's near 26 million population, track below national averages on most socio-economic measures and are not mentioned in the 122-year-old constitution. "We're one step closer to holding a referendum on constitutional recognition through the Voice in 2023," Linda Burney, the Minister for Indigenous Australians said in a tweet after the outcome of the vote was announced. The bill will still need to go through the senate next month, after which the government will set a date for the polls. A successful referendum would finally give constitutional recognition to Australia's Indigenous people, who are one of the most incarcerated people in the world.

Persons: Linda Burney, Praveen Menon, Christopher Cushing Organizations: SYDNEY, Representatives, National Party, Liberal, Indigenous, Thomson Locations: Torres, Australia's

☆ UAE says withdrew from U.S.-led maritime coalition two months ago
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, May 31 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates withdrew from a U.S.-led Middle East maritime security coalition two months ago after evaluating its security relationships, the Gulf state said early on Wednesday. The Combined Maritime Forces is a 34-nation task force, headquartered at the U.S. naval base in Bahrain, working on security, counter-terrorism and counter-piracy in the Red Sea and Gulf areas. "As a result of our ongoing evaluation of effective security cooperation with all partners, two months ago, the UAE withdrew its participation in the Combined Maritime Forces," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement carried by state news agency WAM. Five weeks ago, Iran seized two tankers within a week in Gulf waters near the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. Navy and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: Lisa Barrington, Christopher Cushing Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Combined Maritime Forces, U.S, UAE, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wall, U.S . Navy, UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, U.S, East, Bahrain, United States, Iran, UAE, Hormuz, Dubai

☆ JPMorgan's Dimon says US, China need to have 'real engagement'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

HONG KONG, May 31 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday said the United States and China need to have "real engagement", during his first visit to China since his 2021 comment about the bank outlasting China's ruling party sparked uproar. So I'm hoping we have real engagement," Dimon said, answering a question about Sino-U.S. decoupling at the three-day JPMorgan Global China Summit in Shanghai. Dimon is on his first visit to China since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, he joked that JPMorgan will outlast China's Communist Party, sparking outrage in China and prompting him to express regret. Reporting by Samuel Shen in Shanghai and Xie Yu and Selena Li in Hong Kong; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Jamie Dimon, Dimon, outlast, Samuel Shen, Xie Yu, Selena Li, Christopher Cushing Organizations: JPMorgan Chase &, JPMorgan Global China Summit, JPMorgan, Communist Party, Thomson Locations: HONG KONG, United States, China, Shanghai, East, U.S, Hong Kong

☆ Column: Germany energy transition faces key chemical sector conundrum
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

However, Germany is also home to Europe's largest chemicals sector which churns out plastics, paints, acids and other key inputs that are critical to manufacturers and heavy industries that form the backbone of the German economy. Sharply lower business activity also caused a drop in chemicals consumption last year, but as economic activity recovered in 2023 a lingering shortage of key chemical products has pushed German chemicals prices to near record premiums over those supplied by other producers. DAMAGE DONEThe sustained high prices of German chemical products over international rivals have two important damaging consequences. If the German chemicals sector is to ensure its own long-term future, it must somehow win back any business lost among commodity manufacturers by driving product prices steadily lower relative to rival offerings. On its own, the chemicals sector may struggle to both cut costs and clean up its own product lines and emissions footprints.

Persons: Gavin Maguire, Christopher Cushing Organizations: German Chemicals Association, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LITTLETON , Colorado, Germany, Europe, South East Asia, Polymerupdate, United States

☆ Mitsubishi Motors to extend suspension of production in China -Yomiuri
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T) will extend the suspension of its production in China beyond May, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported on Tuesday. Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Christopher CushingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/3] Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang speaks at the COMPUTEX forum in Taipei, Taiwan May 29, 2023. Under the agreement, announced at the Computex technology trade show in Taipei, MediaTek will integrate an Nvidia graphic processing unit chiplet and Nvidia software into the system-on-chips it supplies to automakers for infotainment displays. MediaTek systems using Nvidia software would be compatible with automated driving systems based on Nvidia technology, the companies said. The partnership with MediaTek gives Nvidia wider access to the $12 billion market for infotainment system-on-chips, the companies said. MediaTek, which has its base in the Android smartphone chip sector, sells its Dimensity Auto technology to lower-priced, mass market vehicle lines, and has strengths in mobile connectivity and Android systems.

In an open letter, acting chief executive Kristin Stubbins said she wanted to apologise on behalf of the firm for "sharing confidential government tax policy information", and said nine partners had been directed to take leave. PwC agreed to stand down from government work any implicated staff a day later. The heart of the issue is that a then-partner on tax at PwC shared confidential information with colleagues while advising the government on new rules to crack down on tax minimisation by multinational companies. Asked on Monday whether the firm should release the names of those with access to confidential information, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for more transparency pending the police investigation. No clients were involved in any wrongdoing and no confidential information had been used to help clients pay less tax, the firm said.

[1/3] U.S. President Joe Biden hosts debt limit talks with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S., May 22, 2023. Here's what we know so far:A CAP ON DISCRETIONARY SPENDINGThe deal would suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling until January of 2025, allowing the U.S. government to pay its bills. Republicans have told their members that non-defense discretionary spending would be cut to 2022 levels, apart from veterans' healthcare, which would remain fully funded. The U.S. government will spend $936 billion on non-defense discretionary spending in 2023. However, other sources say the deal codifies relief from student loan payments while Biden's executive action providing up to $20,000 of debt relief per borrower is under review by the Supreme Court.

TOKYO, May 28 (Reuters) - Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended that shareholders of Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) vote in favour of a resolution urging the automaker to improve disclosure of its lobbying related to climate change. ISS in a report also said it regarded three of Toyota's four outside board director nominees as not truly independent. Toyota's board said the fluidity of such disclosure made the proposal unsuitable for enshrining in the articles of incorporation. A spokesperson previously said few firms globally have made climate policy engagement-related disclosure to the extent of Toyota. "Toyota does not provide shareholders with enough information to evaluate its lobbying activities," ISS said.

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