The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether Microsoft may have breached EU competition rules by tying or bundling its communication and collaboration product Teams to its popular suites for businesses Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Microsoft is a global technology company offering productivity and business software, cloud computing and personal computing. Teams is a cloud-based communication and collaboration tool. It offers functionalities such as messaging, calling, video meetings, file sharing and brings together Microsoft’s and third-party workplace tools and other applications. The coronavirus outbreak accelerated a shift to remote working as well as businesses’ transition to the cloud and the adoption of cloud-based software for communication and collaboration. The transition to the cloud has enabled the emergence of new market players and business models offering customers the ability to use multiple types of software from different providers, without the need to maintain an in-house data centre. Cloud-based software, including the products under investigation, are typically distributed on a subscription basis. Microsoft includes Teams in its well-entrenched cloud-based productivity suites for business customers Office 365 and Microsoft 365. The Commission is concerned that Microsoft may be abusing and defending its market position in productivity software by restricting competition in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’) for communication and collaboration products.
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Dr Sabine Mauderer, Member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank, delivered a keynote speech at the Keynote Oxford Sustainable Finance Summit 2023, Oxford. Walking down Oxford High Street, I was reminded of a picture by the great English painter William Turner. I am sure you are familiar with the painting. It is entitled High Street, Oxford. It depicts University College on the left, All Souls College on the right, and Carfax Tower in the distance. On my morning walk, I was startled by how little has changed since the early 19th century, when the painting was first exhibited. The buildings are still in place and they appear very well kept. Yet, at the same time, so much has changed. There are buses, cabs, modern amenities and so forth. It is precisely this sort of progress, which has been fuelling another type of change: Climate change. Continue reading…

The Commission is adopting a package of infringement decisions due to the absence of communication by Member States of measures taken to transpose EU directives into national law (referred to as ‘non-communication infringements’). The Commission is sending a letter of formal notice to those Member States who have failed to notify national measures transposing directives, whose transposition deadline expired recently. In this case, there are 25 Member States who have not yet notified full transposition measures for eight EU directives in the fields of health, environment, transport, defence and financial stability, financial services and capital markets union. Member States concerned now have two months to reply to the letters of formal notice and complete their transposition, or the Commission may decide to issue a reasoned opinion. Continue reading…

by Daniel Vaknine

Whistleblowing can be a complex subject with many layers and parts. For those of you not working directly with whistleblowing, here’s everything you need to know about whistleblowing in one place. First of all, what exactly is whistleblowing? Whistleblowing is when someone, for example an employee, reports wrongdoing that they believe is in the public interest. Whistleblowing can, for example, concern illegal activities, such as embezzlement or corruption, or unethical/unfair behaviour at work, such as racism, sexism, or homophobia. Depending on the policy, these problems may be brought to the attention of an authorised person or group either inside or outside the workplace, although the latter is usually not “whistleblowing” in the sense of the law. Continue reading…

Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada, made an opening statement at the press conference following the release of the Monetary Policy Report in Ottawa, Ontario. He was pleased to be there with Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers to discuss today’s policy announcement and the Bank of Canada’s Monetary Policy Report (MPR). Today, we raised our policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 5%. We are also continuing our policy of quantitative tightening. Continue reading…

The Financial Conduct Authority has reviewed liquidity management in asset managers and found that firms need to increase their focus on liquidity risk. As things stand, gaps observed in liquidity management could lead to a risk of investor harm. Asset managers need to manage liquidity effectively. Doing so is vital so investors are able to withdraw their investment in line with their expectations and at an accurate price that reflects its value. Poor liquidity management can bring with it serious risks for investors and to wider market stability. 

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The European Commission has fined Illumina and GRAIL approximately €432 million and €1,000 respectively, for implementing their proposed merger before approval by the Commission, in breach of EU merger control rules. EU merger rules require that merging companies not to implement mergers until approved by the Commission (“the standstill obligation”). It is a cornerstone of the European merger control system, that enables the Commission to carry-out its role before structural changes modify the competitive landscape. In July 2021, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation into Illumina’s acquisition of GRAIL. In September 2022, the Commission blocked the transaction over concerns that it would have significant anticompetitive effects, stifling innovation and reducing choice in the emerging market for blood-based early cancer detection tests. In August 2021, however, while the Commission’s review was still ongoing, Illumina publicly announced that it had completed its acquisition of GRAIL.  Continue reading…

by Fabio ACCARDI

The well-functioning of internal control system is an essential element for facing in a resilient way the organizational challenges and achieve sustainable development goals. In order to do it is needed a specific approach focused on developing a positive and effective dialogue between stakeholders and the internal control function. How? We will try to illustrate it in this article. In the last article published on this platform (*1) I focused on what drives the risk perception of our interlocutors, of management and, in general, of all the stakeholders. I performed an “in-depth” analysis non limited to technical themes, but also including the other dimensions, using a multidisciplinary approach targeted to who face control and compliance in an integrated way. It’s, in fact, widespread belief that who take care of these fields should use that approach to increase in a positive way our dialogue ability and create value for the organizations we work for. The positive feedbacks I received for my contribute, both in the Italian and in the English version on the European platform, have pushed me to explore further insights.
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The Commission proposed new rules to help consumers make informed and sustainable choices when purchasing mobile and cordless phones, and tablets, under the existing EU Energy Labelling Regulation. This new proposal comes on the same day as the approval of measures to make these devices more energy efficient, durable and easier to repair by the European Parliament and Council, following a Commission proposal in November 2022, under the EU Ecodesign Regulation. These measures help to make the EU’s economy more circular, save energy, cut our carbon footprint, support circular business models and deliver the benefits of the European Green Deal for consumers. Continue reading…

Mr Luigi Federico Signorini, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Italy, recently gave a speech at the Villa Mondragone International Economic Seminar, Round table on “Risks from inflation and opportunities from fragmentation” at Monte Porzio Catone, Rome. After the Second World War, multilateral institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (as it is now called), have provided a framework in which a rule-based system of international cooperation has flourished, though initially only in our part of the world. A similar framework for cooperation in other key fields has been provided by the WHO and other institutions. Continue reading…