German LNG Terminal Sees Ship Head for Gibraltar After Dispute
The regasification vessel Energos Force reached the Dutch harbor of Rotterdam Thursday and is now heading toward Gibraltar, according to ship-tracking data. At the height of the energy crisis, the government had chartered the ship for a terminal near Hamburg known as Stade, and had planned to begin operations at the end of last year.
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
ERGO Successfully Finalizes the Full Acquisition of NEXT Insurance
DÜSSELDORF, Germany, July 01, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ERGO Group AG ("ERGO") today announced the successful completion of the full acquisition of NEXT Insurance by Munich Re Group. Consequently, NEXT Insurance is now embedded within the management structure of ERGO, the major primary insurance business of Munich Re. All conditions required for the closing of the transaction have been satisfied by the companies according to schedule, including the required regulatory approvals. Through this transaction, ERGO enters the world's largest insurance market, tapping the appealing U.S. small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) segment. NEXT Insurance will complement ERGO's business capabilities through its proprietary technology stack and its fully digital, automated underwriting/pricing platform. In turn, ERGO will support NEXT Insurance's business growth by leveraging its technical excellence and insurance know-how. "Today's transaction closing represents an important milestone in establishing ourselves as a relevant insurance provider in the USA. Together with NEXT Insurance, we will seize the considerable growth potential offered by this attractive market as we expand our existing business portfolio. Through the combination of NEXT Insurance's technologically driven, successful market approach and ERGO's insurance expertise, we will deliver profitable growth and added value for all our stakeholders," comments Markus Rieß, Chief Executive Officer of ERGO Group AG. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, NEXT Insurance is a leading technology-first Property & Casualty insurer focusing on the specific needs of U.S. small business owners. The company offers simple, digital insurance coverage, including General Liability and Workers' Compensation. Since its creation, NEXT Insurance has witnessed significant growth and generated a top line of $548 million in 2024. Today, the company serves more than 600,000 customers and counts around 700 employees. The signing of the definitive agreement by Munich Re and NEXT Insurance was announced on March 20, 2025. The definitive agreement had been concluded at a valuation of $2.6 billion for 100 percent of NEXT Insurance's shares. Prior to the transaction, ERGO Group AG was already a major shareholder of NEXT Insurance, holding around 29 percent of the company's outstanding share capital. The initial announcement can be found here. About ERGO Group AG ERGO is one of the major insurance groups in Germany and Europe. The Group is represented in over 20 countries worldwide, with a focus on Europe and Asia. ERGO offers its retail and corporate customers a broad product portfolio in all the main classes of insurance as well as comprehensive assistance and other services. Three units operate under the umbrella of ERGO Group AG: ERGO Deutschland AG, ERGO International AG and ERGO Technology & Services Management AG. The German and international businesses as well as the global management of IT and technology services are organized in these units. About 37,000 people work either as salaried employees or self-employed sales representatives for the Group. In the 2024 financial year, ERGO generated insurance revenue of 20.8 billion euros and a net result of 791 million euros. ERGO is part of Munich Re, one of the world's leading reinsurers and risk carriers. More at About NEXT Insurance NEXT Insurance is a leading digital insurer transforming small business insurance with simple, digital coverage tailored to the self-employed. Trusted by over 600,000 business owners, NEXT offers policies that are easy to buy and provides 24/7 access to purchasing and servicing, including Certificates of Insurance, additional insured, and more, with no extra fees. Revolutionizing a historically complicated insurance industry, NEXT utilizes AI and machine learning to simplify the purchasing process. Founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto and has received over $1 billion in venture capital funding. The company has also been recognized by CNBC Disruptor 50, Forbes Fintech 50, Inc.'s Best-Led Companies, and Forbes Best StartUp Employers. For more information, visit Stay up to date on the latest with NEXT on X, LinkedIn, Facebook and our blog. Disclaimer This media information contains forward-looking statements that are based on current assumptions and forecasts of the management of ERGO Group. Known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the forward-looking statements given here and the actual development, in particular the results, financial situation and performance of our Company. The Company assumes no liability to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments. View source version on Contacts Media Contacts: Mirko-Alexander KahreERGO Group AGHead of Global Corporate CommunicationsERGO-Platz 140477 DüsseldorfPhone: +49 211 477-3025Mobile: +49 173 3869 media-relations@ Anat HarelNEXT Insurance, Digital Marketing975 California AvePalo Alto, CA 94304650-512-7303pr@
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Simplification Of Sustainability Regulation Gets Complicated
For those trying to keep score on the current state of corporate sustainability regulation in Europe, do not be surprised if the game goes into overtime. In the span of the past few weeks, French President Emmanual Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz both called for an outright elimination of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), while Denmark's Minister of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, Morten Bødskov, issued a call to strengthen the directive. Soon after, representatives from France and Germany walked-back Macron's and Merz's comments, with the German state secretary, Stefan Kornelius, suggesting instead that they wish to 'de-bureacratize' and 'streamline' the regulation. Simplification breeds complexity The CSDDD, which was first introduced by the European Commission in 2022, entered into force in 2024 and has since been put on hold as part of the Omnibus Simplification Package in 2025, established obligations for companies to identify, assess, prevent, mitigate, address and remedy actual and potential impacts on people and planet in their upstream supply chain and downstream activities. In short, it meant big companies would need to become more diligent than ever on scrutinizing their vendor and supplier relationships to make sure they were not running afoul of environmental or human rights issues in any of their operations. In their arguments to repeal the directive, Macron and Merz have suggested that requiring companies in the European Union (EU) to provide this level of disclosure would put these European companies at a disadvantage versus their counterparts in countries like the United States and China. Speaking at the 'Choose France' International Business Summit, Macron explained that shelving the CSDDD was critical for Europe to 'synchronize with the U.S. and the rest of the world.' This sentiment also seems to be at the core of the discussions taking place in the EU parliament over the scope of the Omnibus Simplification Package. The bloc's Legal Affairs Committee recently submitted a draft report outlining their proposals with a heavy emphasis on creating a favorable business environment for EU businesses. So, while the simplification juggernaut will undoubtedly continue throughout the summer, where does that leave those companies craving clarity so they can get on with business? Does this mean that Europe is scaling back on sustainability reporting? On the surface, it may sound like one of the big compliance challenges that was set to come into play for many European companies may soon go away and make life easier. But that's not the case. In fact, the exacerbation of this regulatory uncertainty will have the effect of making things even more complicated for businesses operating in Europe. Say what you will about sweeping regulatory directives, but one advantage they do offer is some level of consistency. With the CSDDD, companies were facing some significant challenges getting their up-stream and down-stream supply chains into alignment, but on the positive side, they were doing it from a position of following a standard set of benchmarks for evaluating sustainability risk and a standard and comparable means of reporting that information to regulators, investors and other stakeholders. Now, with the future of the CSDDD in question, these same businesses face a piecemeal approach that will have them chasing down the details of different environmental and human rights regulations in each of the jurisdictions in which they operate. For example, the Norwegian Transparency Act, the Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, the New York Fashion and Sustainability and Social Accountability Act and many others, are just a handful of examples of local, jurisdiction-specific supply chain regulations that contain many of the same provisions that are included in the CSDDD just focused on a more localized and sector based scale. While these may lack the EU-wide footprint that comes along with the CSDDD, they are just as relevant for most large businesses operating in Europe. Meanwhile, in the background, the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation's International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has been quietly moving forward, gaining momentum as the de facto standard for corporate climate risk reporting by linking climate disclosures to financial reporting. In April 2024, the IFRS announced that its next areas of research would be biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services and human capital. Could this be interpreted that human capital, including human rights reporting requirements, might be coming soon to a financial statement near you? For businesses caught in the middle of this increasingly politicized time of corporate sustainability uncertainty, it is important not to be distracted by the grandstanding, lobbying and delays that have accompanied some of the biggest and most visible pieces of legislation. Instead of focusing on the supply chain due diligence reporting requirements which may be coming, business leaders need to understand where they are already in place, what they require of them and whether or not their businesses are compliant. The challenge right now is to synchronize and systematize data collection and reporting such that meeting the current assortment of local, national and international requirements does not create an undue strain on the core business or leave that business open to risk of non-compliance. It is also important to recognize that multiple stakeholders will be watching. Even as the CSDDD is held up interminably by lobbying and negotiations, consumers, investors and business partners will still expect good corporate citizenship when it comes to rooting out environmental and human rights abuses in corporate supply chains. Whether they are regulated globally or locally, human rights violations within supplier networks will never reflect well on parent companies. Investments made today in rooting out bad actors and questionable business practices will always pay dividends for big companies – regardless of the status of any single regulatory proposal.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
German court suspends diesel scandal trial of former Volkswagen CEO Winterkorn
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A German court has suspended proceedings in the trial of former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn, who has been charged with fraud and market manipulation in connection with the automaker's use of rigged software that let millions of diesel-engine cars cheat on emissions tests. The regional court in Braunschweig on Tuesday cited an unspecified health issue that meant Winterkorn, 78, was not in a condition to face trial. The court said in a statement that it had "provisionally terminated' the proceedings. It said the health issue represented a 'temporary impediment' and would continue to be reviewed with the help of an expert so that proceedings could resume if Winterkorn recovers. Winterkorn went on trial in September, 2024 but the proceedings were suspended a few days later after Winterkorn had an accident. Germany's code of criminal procedure allows for a court to provisionally terminate proceedings 'if the absence of the indicted accused or some other personal impediment prevents the main hearing being held for a considerable time.' Prosecutors say Winterkorn knew about the illegal software well before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its discovery of the violation in September 2015. He resigned days later. He has said he learned about the practice only shortly before the announcement and earlier testified during civil proceedings that the allegations against him 'are not correct.' In May, four former Volkswagen managers were convicted of fraud and two of them given prison sentences for their part in the manipulation of emissions controls. The former head of diesel development was sentenced to four and a half years in prison, and the head of drive train electronics to two years and seven months by the court in Braunschweig. Two others received suspended sentences of 15 months and 10 months. The company has paid more than $33 billion in fines and compensation to vehicle owners. Two VW managers received prison sentences in the U.S. The former head of the company's Audi division, Rupert Stadler, was given a suspended sentence of 21 months and a fine of 1.1 million euros ($1.25 million). The sentence is still subject to appeal. . David Mchugh, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
