
Hong Kong investigates Louis Vuitton data leak affecting 419,000 customers
Leaked information included names, passport details, addresses and email addresses as well as phone numbers, shopping history and product preferences, Hong Kong's Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data said.
No payment information was affected, Louis Vuitton - the main brand of luxury giant LVMH (LVMH.PA), opens new tab - said in an e-mailed statement.
It had discovered an unauthorised party had accessed some client data and it was now working with "the relevant regulators and affected clients," the company added.
The Hong Kong watchdog said it had also launched an investigation into Louis Vuitton Hong Kong, including whether there had been delays in notifying authorities.
It said the French head office had found suspicious activities on its computer system on June 13, discovered Hong Kong customers were affected on July 2, and then reported the breach to the watchdog on July 17.
The luxury group reported similar breaches in its operations in South Korea and Britain earlier this month.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
26 minutes ago
- Reuters
Chinese stock pickers lead global hedge fund gains as markets swing
HONG KONG, July 24 (Reuters) - Hedge funds focused on Chinese equities posted double-digit returns in the first half of the year, outperforming global peers, fuelled by a rebound in Hong Kong stocks and bets on artificial intelligence and "new consumption" firms. Some fund managers said their more agile use of hedging tools also helped cushion losses during the market turmoil in April, triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement of "reciprocal tariffs" on all trading partners. The Greater China Equities Hedge Fund Index tracked by With Intelligence delivered a 15% gain in the first half, topping the hedge fund data platform's regional and strategy benchmarks. Hong Kong- and Shenzhen-based Triata Capital rose 45% in the first six months and 62% by July 15, following a 19% gain in 2024. The $1.2 billion hedge fund has reaped rewards from its concentrated bets on undervalued AI software, data centers, internet platforms, and selected consumer stocks such as education and hotels. "Even following this year's news on DeepSeek, we still see underappreciated upside in China's AI software space," said Sean Ho, founder and chief investment officer at Triata, which leverages a significant amount of alternative data. Many internet companies' new business lines, empowered by AI technology, "present pure upside optionality." Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (.HSI), opens new tab and MSCI China jumped 20% and 16%, respectively, in the first six months, among the world's best performers. The rally extended into July, with previously lagging mainland stocks catching up. The Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC), opens new tab just hit a new high for the year this week. FountainCap Research & Investment capitalised on what it calls "cute economy", or companies that offer emotionally engaging products aimed at young consumers. The $2 billion firm's flagship long-only fund was up 22% from January to June. "Obviously Pop Mart is the best representation of this, but other things like pet care would fall under this too," said Steven Luk, CEO of FountainCap. Shares of "blind box" toymaker Pop Mart ( opens new tab, FountainCap's top holding, have surged roughly 200% so far this year. The first half was not smooth sailing. Trump's unexpected tariff announcement and China's immediate countermeasures, sent shockwaves through global markets in early April. That triggered a 13% plunge in the Hang Seng Index on April 7 — its steepest single-day drop since 1997. Still, prolonged geopolitical uncertainties have prompted Chinese fund managers to sharpen their use of hedging tools. "We had rapidly increased hedging positions and significantly reduced net exposure of our portfolio during this period of wild market volatility," Hong Kong-based Golden Nest Capital said in its June newsletter. That helped the fund, which targets high-quality, low-volatility returns, record a 12th consecutive month of positive returns. While near-term volatility may rise as the deadline for a U.S.-China tariff truce approaches, fund managers are staying bullish. FountainCap's Luk described the current China market as a "silent bull market", noting that global capital has yet to return and Chinese company valuations remain low relative to developed market peers. Geopolitical tension is also abating. "It seems the market is pricing in gradual improvements, with little attention paid to the tariff deadline," Luk said. Simon Hopkins, CEO of Singapore-based Milltrust International Group, a hedge fund allocator, said he plans to increase exposure to China in the second half, drawn by the country's AI innovations and precision manufacturing capabilities. "There is going to be a huge recognition that Chinese technology is a place that is going to attract a lot of capital," he said. "The U.S. dominance in that area is being undone." Sources: Investors and funds Note: WT and ForwardEdge did not immediately reply to Reuters' requests for comment


Reuters
26 minutes ago
- Reuters
China H1 gold consumption falls at slower pace on strong safe-haven demand
BEIJING, July 24 (Reuters) - China's gold consumption in the first half of 2025 declined at a slower pace, as strong safe-haven demand partly offset dwindling appetite for jewellery purchases amid persistently high prices of the precious metal. Gold buying in the first six months slipped 3.54% year-on-year to 505.205 metric tons, versus a 5.96% annual fall in the first quarter and a 5.61% drop in the same period in 2024, data from the state-backed Gold Association showed on Thursday. "The intensified geopolitical conflicts coupled with economic uncertainties have further highlighted gold's safe-haven and value-preserving function, leading to a significant increase in private investment in gold bars and coins," the association said. Purchases of gold bars and coins, typically a gauge of safe-haven demand, jumped 23.7% year-on-year to 264.242 tons between January and June, or 52% of the total, overtaking jewellery as the largest segment. In contrast, jewellery purchases slumped 26% to 199.826 tons as high prices dampened consumer interest. Spot gold and the most-active contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed by about 25% in the period. "Jewellery products with lightweight, strong design and high added value are still favoured," the association said. Separately, official data from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) showed the central bank added gold to its reserves in June for the eighth straight month. China's gold output from domestically produced raw materials fell 0.31% from a year earlier to 179.083 tons in the first half of 2025, while production from imported raw materials rose 2.29% year-on-year to 76.678 tons. In all, China's gold production rose 0.44% year-on-year to 252.761 tons.


Reuters
26 minutes ago
- Reuters
Renewables and coal are working to push out crude oil in China
LAUNCESTON, Australia, July 24 (Reuters) - The headline news in China's energy transition is often about how the world's second-largest economy is adding solar and wind generation at a breakneck pace. What is less discussed is how this is affecting the rest of the energy landscape, and how China is treading a different path to decarbonisation than most Western nations. In the West, renewables such as wind and solar have largely pushed out coal-fired power generation, and the intermittency that they bring to grids has been addressed by using natural gas, and to a lesser extent battery storage. In China, renewables have lowered coal's share of electricity generation, but only slightly, and the world's biggest miner, importer and consumer of coal is currently building even more coal-fired plants. Instead of pushing out coal, it appears that the fuel being most targeted by renewables in China is crude oil. This isn't because renewables directly replace crude or refined products. It's because China is trying to rapidly electrify its economy and transport systems. While it may not please anti-coal environmentalists or oil exporters such as the OPEC+ group, China's accelerated electrification does make economic sense, and over the long term it may even make environmental sense too. China installed 46 gigawatts (GW) of wind power and 198 GW of solar in the first five months of the year, as well as 3 GW of hydropower, according to data from the National Energy Administration. In contrast, just 18 GW of thermal power generation, mainly coal, was added in the January to May period, meaning that renewable energy accounted for 93% of the capacity additions. China is installing solar at such a fast pace that Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, calculated that in May it was adding 100 solar panels every second. However, China also has 227 GW of coal-fired power under construction and a further 257 GW in the pipeline, according to the Global Energy Monitor. China accounts for 83% of the global coal-fired generation capacity currently being built and its 1,789 GW of operating coal-fired generation accounts for 55% of the world total. The overall picture that emerges from China's current and planned electricity generation is renewables are accounting for the bulk of the growth, but coal is still increasing even if its share of total generation is starting to decline. What is also clear is that China is adding electricity generation faster than any other major economy. Part of the reason Beijing is doing so is because of the rapid rollout of electric and hybrid vehicles, which China collectively refers to as New Energy Vehicles (NEVs). Total vehicle sales rose 11.4% to 15.65 million units in the first half of 2025 from the same period last year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, with NEV sales surging 43% to 6.94 million units. The increasing share of NEV sales in China has led the International Energy Agency (IEA) to forecast hardly any growth in China's oil product demand this year, with it estimating an increase of just 81,000 barrels per day (bpd). The main drag on China's product demand growth is gasoline, which the IEA expects to drop by 141,000 bpd in 2025 from 2024. The increasing sales of electric heavy vehicles, as well as those powered by liquefied natural gas, are expected to see diesel demand drop by 40,000 bpd. The drivers of growth in China's oil product demand are naphtha, ethane and liquid petroleum gas, which the IEA forecasts will rise by a combined 199,000 bpd. The main uses for these products include plastics and chemicals. Rising demand is a reflection of strength in vehicle and other manufacturing, despite concerns over the potential fallout from import tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. China's crude oil imports rose a modest 1.4% in the first half of 2025, as refiners bought more crude than they processed as prices trended lower in the second quarter. The country's crude oil imports dropped 1.9% in 2024 from the prior year, and the modest gain so far this year suggests the country may be at, or nearing, peak oil consumption. This makes economic and strategic sense for Beijing. China will want to move away from imported crude as fast as it can, given the commodity's inherent vulnerability to geopolitical events and its history of price fluctuations. Using electricity to replace oil boosts energy security and lowers China's import bill. While China is adding renewables at an impressive rate, it still makes sense to use the vast domestic reserves of coal as a fuel, especially if it replaces expensive and uncertain crude oil. Using coal also makes more sense in China than natural gas, with the bulk of the country's gas supplies either imported via pipelines or in the form of LNG. This makes natural gas more expensive than coal, meaning it will only be used for applications that are difficult to electrify, such as some industrial heating. In some weird way, coal is turning out to be China's transition fuel from crude oil to renewables. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, opens new tab and X, opens new tab. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.