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☆ Top EU regulator defends mega $1.3 billion privacy fine on Meta: ‘I have to enforce the law’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A top European Union data privacy regulator on Wednesday defended a decision to hit Meta with a record-setting 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) fine, saying that she had to enforce the law based on existing regulations. Meta on Monday was fined a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) by the Irish Data Protection Commission for breaching the EU's tough rules on data privacy, known as the General Data Protection Regulation. GDPR is a landmark data protection regulation that governs firms in the bloc. She added, "This new agreement, called the European Data Privacy Framework, it's still pending. The Monday Meta fine is the largest to date since the EU's GDPR came into force.

Persons: Helen Dixon, —, Dixon, CNBC's, Meta, it's, GDPR, Arjun Kharpal Organizations: Data, Ireland, Meta, Irish Data Protection, General Data, Amazon, U.S, EU, European Court of Justice Locations: EU, Luxembourg, Ireland, U.S

☆ Meta fined a record $1.3 billion over EU user data transfers to the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Meta has been fined a record 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) by European privacy regulators over the transfer of EU user data to the U.S. Several mechanisms to legally transfer personal data between the U.S. and the EU have been contested. The latest such iteration, Privacy Shield, was struck down by the European Court of Justice, the EU's top court, in 2020. Meta used a mechanism called standard contractual clauses to transfer personal data in and out of the EU. Ireland's Data Protection Commission also told Meta to "suspend any future transfer of personal data to the US within the period of five months" from the decision.

☆ Meta hit with record $1.3 bln fine over data transfers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The fine, imposed by Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), came after Meta continued to transfer data beyond a 2020 EU court ruling that invalidated an EU-U.S. data transfer pact. It tops the previous record EU privacy fine of 746 million euros handed by Luxembourg to Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) in 2021. "Without the ability to transfer data across borders, the internet risks being carved up into national and regional silos," Meta said. Europe's top court, the European Court of Justice, threw out the two previous pacts over concerns about U.S. surveillance. Unless U.S. surveillance laws gets fixed, Meta will likely have to keep EU data in the EU," he said in a statement.

☆ Digital euro not a 'Big Brother' project, says EU official
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Johanna Geron/PoolLONDON, April 19 (Reuters) - A digital euro will offer choice in making payments and is not a "Big Brother" project that seeks to control people, the European Union's financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness said on Wednesday. But critics say a digital version of the euro could be used to pry on people's activities, and make it harder to use cash for making payments and purchases. "This is not a Big Brother project," McGuinness told the European Parliament. If the EU decides to grant formal 'legal tender' status to a digital euro, the bloc would need to do likewise for the cash version of the single currency, McGuinness said. The court said legal tender means mandatory acceptance of the euro at full face value, along with power to discharge from payment obligations or release from debt.

☆ Moody's downgrades Poland's mBank, confirms Bank Millennium
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WARSAW, March 25 (Reuters) - Moody's has downgraded the long-term deposit ratings of mBank and changed the outlook to negative from "under review" citing risks stemming from the legacy of Swiss franc loans at Polish lenders, the agency said. Moody's has downgraded the long-term issuer ratings of the bank's mortgage unit mBank Hipoteczny and changed the outlook to negative from "under review". The agency confirmed Bank Millennium's long- and short-term deposits ratings and changed the outlook on its long-term deposit ratings to negative from "under review". An adviser to the European Union's top court last month sided with Polish borrowers with Swiss franc-denominated mortgages. Poland's regulator has warned the matter could cost Polish banks 100 billion zlotys ($22.98 billion).

☆ Factbox: UK says 'Stormont Brake' gives UK unequivocal veto over some EU laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In a British government document setting out details of the deal, London said the mechanism gives it an "unequivocal veto" on EU rules when 30 members of Northern Ireland's devolved government from two or more parties object. "Once the UK notifies the EU that the brake has been triggered, the rule in question is suspended automatically from coming into effect," the document published on the British government website said. "This would give the UK an unequivocal veto - enabling the rule to be permanently disapplied - within the Joint Committee." If the UK accepts these conditions have been met, it would commence intensive consultations at the joint committee. This would be because of a divergence in trade rules between Northern Ireland and Ireland - and thus the broader EU, London noted.

☆ UK begins long and uncertain road back from Brexit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Britain is beginning the long and uncertain road back from Brexit. Changes to the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol were inevitable. There’s still scope to improve Johnson’s trade deal, struck in 2019. The route back is uncertain, but the symbolic importance of the Northern Ireland deal is not. The agreement marks a “new chapter” in relations between the UK and European Union, Sunak said in a press conference.

☆ Volkswagen faces possible recalls after environmental NGO wins emissions software lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO: A Volkswagen logo is pictured in a production line at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, Germany March 1, 2019. The NGO, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, is calling for Volkswagen Golf vehicles to be recalled because of software manipulation to emissions mechanisms, alleging the KBA authority should never have allowed these vehicles to be released to the market. “The case was effectively successful,” a court spokesperson said, meaning the decision by the authority to release the vehicles must be revoked. Volkswagen said in a statement it would wait to receive the full reasoning of the court to decide on next steps. The ruling concerns software Volkswagen installed to control the recirculation of exhaust gases, which EU courts have said is illegal in certain conditions but Volkswagen views as in line with the law.

☆ Explainer: What is the Northern Ireland protocol?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/3] A truck parked beside a 'money changed' sign is seen on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland near Jonesborough, Northern Ireland, October 13, 2021. WHAT IS THE NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL? Northern Ireland also remains part of the UK's customs territory, effectively creating a customs border in the sea between Britain and Northern Ireland. The protocol specifies those EU regulations and directives with which Northern Ireland must remain aligned, and means new EU acts may be added to those that apply in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Protocol bill, if passed by parliament, would give the British government the power to unilaterally decide to all but renege on the agreement.

☆ Explainer: Talks on post-Brexit Northern Ireland trade edge closer to deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WHAT IS THE NORTHERN IRELAND PROTOCOL? Northern Ireland also remains part of the UK's customs territory. That effectively created a customs border in the sea between Britain and Northern Ireland, which pro-British communities say erodes their place within the UK. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Northern Ireland's biggest unionist party, also says the province should not have to follow laws without having a say. According to so-called dynamic alignment, this also means that any new EU acts may also be added to those that apply in Northern Ireland.

☆ Britain's Sunak touts EU protocol progress in Northern Ireland, no deal yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

After weeks of intense London-Brussels talks, momentum has been building towards a deal to revise the Northern Ireland Protocol - the arrangements agreed to avoid a hard border with EU member Ireland when Britain exited the EU in 2020. "I had positive conversations with political parties in Northern Ireland," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters. In Belfast, Sunak focused his attention on the Democratic Unionist Party, whose opposition to the protocol must be overcome to make any deal work. The other political parties that met Sunak on Friday said detail from the prime minister on a potential deal was "scant". Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the militant Irish Republican Army that wants Northern Ireland to split from the UK and unite with Ireland, became the province's largest party for the first time at elections last year.

☆ EU top court adviser backs FX borrowers, Polish bank stocks fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Anna Koper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The country's KNF financial watchdog has warned that the banking sector could face a 100 billion zlotys hit in case of an unfavourable ruling. He added that if Polish courts grant remuneration to consumers the additional cost would be similar in the worst case scenario. Hundreds of thousands of Poles took out mortgages in foreign currencies, mainly in Swiss francs, attracted by lower interest rates. Many mortgage holders took banks to court, while banks started offering settlements to find an out-of-court solution. The total stock of foreign currency mortgages in Poland stood at almost 79 billion zloty in December based on the latest available KNF data, with Swiss franc mortgages accounting for over 52 billion zloty.

☆ Bayer says chemicals farmers use to fight insects are safe, but it's more complicated than that, says its ESG head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The European Union, also in 2018, banned some pesticides that Bayer makes because scientists and regulators linked them to deaths of bees. "It felt like we were on the grill at a barbecue," Kunz, Bayer's head of environmental, social, and governance strategy, told Insider. Beyond neonicotinoids, Kunz said Bayer's strategy to meet its environmental targets involved what he called a more systems-based approach. Bayer also makes digital tools that help farmers apply fertilizer and pesticides more precisely, which can dramatically reduce how much they're needed, Kunz said. Bayer's sustainability efforts are attracting at least some ESG investors and ratings firms.

☆ UK and EU reach post-Brexit customs deal for N.Ireland-The Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A 'no entry' sign is seen near the Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast, Northern Ireland June 13, 2022. The EU has accepted a plan that would avoid the need for routine checks on products going into Northern Ireland, the newspaper reported on Tuesday. Both sides were also hammering out details of a veterinary checks deal, The Times said. A UK government spokesperson said its priority is to protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and to preserve political stability in Northern Ireland and the UK internal market. After months of tensions between London, Brussels, Belfast and Dublin, progress has recently been made in the dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

SummarySummary Companies Top EU court dismisses HSBC challenge over cartel participationUpholds annulment of Euribor cartel fineHSBC separately challenging reduced Euribor fineBRUSSELS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) on Thursday failed to overturn a court ruling that it had participated in a cartel to rig benchmark Euribor rates in 2007, but Europe's top court confirmed that a 33.6 million euro ($36 million) fine had been scrapped. The European Court of Justice, Europe's highest court, rejected HSBC's attempt to clear its name by challenging a 2019 lower court decision that it had colluded with others to try to manipulate key Euribor (euro interbank offered rate) rates. The European Commission, the bloc's executive body, ruled in 2016 that HSBC and six other banks had tried to distort Euribor, a benchmark for rates on financial products, fining the lender 33.6 million euros. Three years later, a lower tribunal scrapped the fine because of insufficient reasoning, but dismissed the bank's attempt to shake off the ruling that it had taken part in a cartel. The European Commission subsequently imposed a slightly lower fine of 31.7 million euros in 2021, which HSBC is separately challenging.

☆ HSBC wins appeal against $36 mln Euribor cartel fine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 12 (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L) has won an appeal against a decision by European antitrust regulators to fine Europe's second-largest bank 33.6 million euros ($36 million) over its role in a cartel to manipulate benchmark Euribor interest rates in 2007. HSBC, penalised alongside JPMorgan (JPM.N) and Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA), challenged the decision and in 2019, a lower tribunal scrapped the fine because of insufficient reasoning. The European Commission subsequently re-imposed a slightly lower fine of 31.7 million euros in 2021. HSBC, JPMorgan and Credit Agricole opted against settling with European regulators and, following a full investigation, JPMorgan was fined 337.2 million euros and Credit Agricole was ordered to pay 114.7 million euros. EU, U.S. and British regulators have fined banks billions of euros for manipulating benchmark interest rates and the foreign exchange market.

☆ Top EU Court rules against Spain for air pollution in Madrid and Barcelona
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Spain allowed nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution levels to systematically exceed EU limits in Madrid and Barcelona between 2010 and 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday, potentially paving the way for Brussels to seek penalties. The EU's executive Commision had asked the bloc's top court in 2019 to take action against Spain over its poor air quality in its two biggest cities, arguing it was failing to protect citizens against pollution. The court found that harmful rates of NO2 in the air had exceeded the limits in areas with a combined population of 7.3 million people, including the two big cities and an industrial area near Barcelona: Valles-Baix Llobregat. In Madrid, where a low-emission scheme in a restricted central area has been at the heart of political warfare for years, the conservative mayor accuses his left-wing predecessor's administration of failing to address air pollution. Reporting by Emma Pinedo Editing by Inti Landauro and Peter GraffOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FIFA and UEFA did not breach EU laws in blocking European Super League, but proponents aren’t for giving up
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Sammy Mngqosini | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The decisions taken by soccer bodies FIFA and UEFA to block the European Super League (ESL) are in line with European Union (EU) competition laws, according to an EU Opinion issued on Thursday. “The FIFA-UEFA rules under which any new competition is subject to prior approval are compatible with EU competition law,” Advocate General Athanasios Rantos at the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) said. The ESL was set up in 2021 by 12 European clubs with the intention to break away from European football governing body UEFA to create their very own competition. FIFA also welcomes the Advocate General’s recognition of FIFA’s exclusive rights to market international competitions organized by FIFA. Fans of Chelsea Football Club protest against the European Super League outside Stamford Bridge on April 20, 2021.

☆ EU court rejects WhatsApp challenge against EU Data Protection Board
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Dec 7 (Reuters) - The Court of Justice of the European Union has dismissed as inadmissible an action brought by WhatsApp against a decision of the European Data Protection Board, it said in a statement on Wednesday. Following complaints about Whatsapp's (META.O) use of personal data in Ireland and a European Data Protection Board (EDPB) ruling on the issue, the Irish Data Protection commission in 2021 imposed corrective measures on Whatsapp and fines totalling 225 million euros. WhatsApp had challenged that decision before an Irish court and also requested that the European Court of Justice annul the EDPB's ruling, but the court ruled that Whatsapp's action was inadmissible. It added that the validity of the EDPB's decision could be challenged before a national court. Reporting by GV De Clercq, editing by Marine Strauss, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU targets deadly air pollution, pushes for cleaner water
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Among them is a requirement that, by 2030, EU countries must meet new legally-binding air pollution limits that will be closer to the stricter World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. The WHO tightened its air quality guidelines last year, hoping to push countries toward clean energy and prevent deaths caused by dirty air. Air pollution causes 300,000 premature deaths in Europe each year. Europe's air quality has improved over the last decade, but many countries still breach the current EU limits. EU countries will separately determine how to achieve air quality standards and where to set any penalties.

☆ Russia's settlement depository demands EU sanctions be recognised as unlawful
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe NSD filed a lawsuit at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg on Aug. 12, but gave no further details. The EU sanctions on the NSD, as well as other Western measures aimed at restricting Russia's access to global financial infrastructure, have blocked many Russian investors' access to securities held in jurisdictions outside Russia. The NSD said that sanctions had been imposed based on "unsubstantiated" facts and that the Council had "failed to meet the required standard of proof", making the sanctions unlawful. Russian Eurobond issuers have started issuing securities to replace those stuck abroad due to sanctions imposed on Moscow for what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Elena Fabrichnaya and Alexander Marrow, editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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