Latest news with #regulatory
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Southern Water owners to invest up to £1.2bn into troubled utility
The struggling UK utility Southern Water has secured investment worth up to £1.2bn in a deal led by its majority owner, Macquarie Group, that will help it avoid a breach of its regulatory licence. A consortium led by Macquarie has committed to invest £655m, with a promise of another £245m by the end of the year from existing shareholders and unnamed new investors. Southern could receive another £300m depending on the outcome of a legal appeal to increase the amount it can charge customers. Southern supplies Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight with water and sewage services. It needed to raise cash in order to avoid a downgrade on its debt rating that could have resulted in a breach of its licence to operate from Ofwat, the sector regulator in England and Wales. Ofwat has allowed water companies to raise household bills steeply in order to invest billions of pounds over the next five years in infrastructure such as new pipes, water treatment works and reservoirs. Southern had already been allowed a 53% increase for its 4.7 million customers – the largest rise of any company – but it is appealing to the Competition and Markets Authority to charge more. Southern in February said it would raise £900m from investors and that it expected 'to conclude the process by the end of June 2025'. However, the process was only completed late on the last day of June after protracted negotiations between Australia-headquartered Macquarie and the holders of Southern's most expensive debt. Those creditors, the US investor Ares Management and the Australian investor Westbourne Capital, will have £415m in debt written off in exchange for taking part in the equity raise, according to a person close to the talks. Southern is the latest UK water company to face severe financial pressures, and had net debt of £6.2bn at the end of March 2024. Macquarie has previously faced intense criticism from politicians over its record of ownership of Thames Water between 2006 and 2017, when Britain's biggest water company built up large debts. Macquarie sold the utility to buyers who have since lost all their investment. Thames Water's creditors are negotiating with the government to avoid fines before injecting £5.3bn in new debt and equity that would see them formalise control of it – and avoid temporary nationalisation. Southern's parallel turnaround efforts had been complicated by its complex capital structure. Negotiations continued until Monday to agree the level of writedown on the debt. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Securing the equity was crucial for Southern because it has already had its debt downgraded to 'junk' status by Moody's Investor Service, one of the trio of big credit rating agencies. Another of the three, S&P Global Ratings, has threatened to cut its rating if the equity raise is not successful. Ofwat requires an investment-grade rating from two of the big agencies. Southern is majority-owned by Macquarie via a Jersey-incorporated vehicle called Greensands Holdings. The consortium putting up the £655m also includes existing investors. Other minority shareholders include funds controlled by JP Morgan, UBS and Federated Hermes. Another consequence of the Moody's rating agency downgrade was that Southern Water was blocked from making payments to the debt holders. Southern said that it would commit to paying dividends during the 2025 to 2030 regulatory period.
Zawya
24-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Altery secures DFSA licence to expand financial services in the MENA region
London — Altery Ltd, a UK fintech startup, has officially announced that its MENA subsidiary, Altery MENA Ltd, was granted a regulatory licence by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA). This licence forms part of Altery's broader global strategy to establish compliant, regional financial hubs. The MENA region, particularly the UAE, stands out for its high digital payment adoption and progressive regulatory environment, making it a strategic choice for Altery's regional expansion. Following the approval, Altery MENA is authorised to enable customers to collect and spend funds in local currency (AED/GCC) within the UAE. While the licence does not extend to crypto or international money transmission, it represents a critical first step. It provides regulatory legitimacy, allows user onboarding in a strategically important market and establishes a compliance infrastructure for future expansion. Altery is currently working closely with the DFSA to operationalise the licence, ensuring all compliance, operational and technical components are aligned for a smooth go-to-market rollout. The granting of the DFSA licence represents a strategic milestone for Altery, affirming its adherence to international financial standards and its commitment to delivering secure, innovative solutions within a trusted regulatory framework. About Altery: Altery is a group of licensed fintech companies, combining Electronic Money Institutions and crypto-regulated entities, to offer a unified platform for the modern economy. At its core is a cutting-edge multi-currency account that simplifies the way businesses move money across currencies and borders. With seamless support for both fiat and crypto, Altery bridges traditional and digital payments with clarity, control and scale.
Associated Press
20-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
LegalBison Establishes Southeast Asia Presence with New Malaysian Office
06/20/2025, Kuala Lumpur // KISS PR Brand Story PressWire // LegalBison, a global regulatory advisory firm specializing in the FinTech and crypto sectors, has officially opened its new office in Kuala Lumpur, marking the company's first physical expansion into Asia and reinforcing its long-term growth strategy in emerging financial markets. This milestone follows the success of LegalBison's European headquarters in Tallinn, Estonia, and represents a strategic effort to better serve clients throughout Southeast Asia—including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and beyond. 'Availability for international clients has always been one of LegalBison's key strengths,' said Sabir Alijev, Chief Product Officer at LegalBison. 'With our new presence in Malaysia, we now have a bird's-eye view of the local regulatory landscape and are ready to deliver timely, regionally tailored solutions.' Kuala Lumpur was selected for its robust regulatory institutions, economic stability, and position as a rising hub for digital finance in Asia. Establishing operations in Malaysia allows LegalBison to deepen relationships with local partners and clients while offering more agile support in licensing, AML/KYC compliance, cross-border banking, and corporate structuring. LegalBison's move reflects the growing demand for localized compliance expertise in Asia's fast-evolving financial landscape. The Malaysian team will collaborate closely with LegalBison's Estonia office to provide seamless advisory services across time zones, ensuring clients benefit from both global perspective and local insight. By anchoring its Asia-Pacific strategy in Kuala Lumpur, LegalBison positions itself as a trusted partner to startups, growth-stage firms, and enterprises navigating complex cross-border regulatory environments. LegalBison is now actively onboarding clients across Southeast Asia and is open to strategic partnerships throughout the region and globally. For media inquiries or more information, please visit or contact [email protected]. About LegalBison Founded in 2020, LegalBison is a regulatory and legal advisory firm headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia. The firm supports companies in the FinTech, crypto, and high-compliance sectors with services including licensing, compliance, banking solutions, and international corporate structuring. LegalBison provides tailored, cross-border support to help businesses navigate complex regulatory environments worldwide. Media Contact LegalBison PR Team This content was first published by KISS PR Brand Story. Read here >> LegalBison Establishes Southeast Asia Presence with New Malaysian Office
Finextra
18-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Beyond the Firewall: Rethinking Payment Data Security: By James Richardson
In today's digital economy, protecting sensitive business payment data is no longer just the responsibility of IT or treasury departments — it's a strategic business imperative. While enterprise systems like ERP and CRM often have strong security protocols, these systems don't operate in a vacuum. Payment data is frequently copied, stored, and used across spreadsheets, shared drives, and supplier portals — far beyond the safety of core systems. That's where the real risk lies. Why Traditional Defences Fall Short Historically, businesses have relied on layered security controls like encryption, firewalls, and access policies to protect payment information. But these measures alone don't eliminate the inherent risks of decentralised data. Payment details often reside in multiple locations across an organisation — from shared folders to manual payment files — making it hard to track who has access, where data is stored, and how it's being used. In these uncontrolled environments, human error, system design gaps, and cybercriminals can easily exploit weaknesses. And the stakes are high. Data breaches involving bank account details not only damage reputations and erode customer trust but can also expose organisations to direct financial loss, fraud recovery efforts, and regulatory scrutiny. The Rise of Payment Tokenisation To address this growing threat, an additional and effective approach is gaining traction in B2B payments security: payment tokenisation. Tokenisation replaces sensitive bank account information with a secure, randomised token — a placeholder with no exploitable value. These tokens are stored and managed outside the business's systems, in highly secure external environments. The original bank data stays protected, while the business uses the token for processing payments as if it were the real thing. In practice, this means organisations can continue to run payments efficiently — but without ever holding the real account data internally. Even if a breach occurs, attackers get meaningless tokens rather than actionable payment credentials. Strategic Benefits Beyond Security The appeal of tokenisation goes beyond protecting against fraud. It simplifies compliance and risk management by centralising sensitive data into a single, tightly controlled location. That eliminates data sprawl, reduces audit complexity, and gives finance teams greater peace of mind. Organisations embracing tokenisation also gain operational resilience. Instead of relying solely on internal controls, they reduce systemic risk by shifting sensitive data management to dedicated, security-hardened infrastructure. That's especially valuable for large businesses managing thousands of payments a day or navigating complex multi-supplier networks. From Niche to Necessity While tokenisation is already well established in card payment systems, its adoption for bank account data is only just beginning. There's no regulatory requirement — yet — but that's starting to shift. Standards like PCI DSS don't currently mandate tokenisation for bank details, but forward-thinking organisations aren't waiting for legislation to catch up. Rising fraud, evolving cyber threats, and increasing expectations from partners and regulators are all pushing tokenisation from a niche solution to a best-practice standard. For financial operations teams, it's a proactive step that protects both reputation and revenue. The Strategic Imperative Tokenisation isn't just a cybersecurity tactic — it's a smarter, more resilient way to handle business payment data in a landscape where breaches are inevitable and reputational risk is high. It streamlines compliance, enhances governance, and dramatically lowers the threat posed by internal errors, third-party risks, and increasingly sophisticated attacks. The time to act is now. Businesses that wait for regulation, a major breach, or a mandate from a banking partner are already on the back foot. Forward-looking organisations are proactively removing sensitive bank account data from their systems — not simply to protect it, but to eliminate the need to hold it in the first place. Don't wait for a crisis to rethink your approach. Tokenisation is fast becoming a defining feature of modern payment security strategy. If your business handles payments, it's time to ask: why hold the risk at all?
CNA
16-06-2025
- Business
- CNA
OpenAI executives have discussed accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior, WSJ reports
Executives at OpenAI have discussed accusing the company's major backer, Microsoft, of anticompetitive behavior during their partnership, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. OpenAI's effort could involve seeking a federal regulatory review of the terms of its contract with Microsoft for potential violations of antitrust law, as well as a public campaign, the report said.
