UK watchdog interviews 20 social media ‘finfluencers’ under caution

Britain’s financial watchdog has interviewed 20 social media influencers under caution, as it clamps down on “finfluencers” who may be touting financial services products illegally.The 20 were interviewed voluntarily using the Financial Conduct Authority’s criminal powers. Potential penalties include fines and imprisonment of up to two years.In this case, the FCA has focused on finfluencers – celebrities who use their social media platform to promote financial products – who are touting foreign exchange and contracts for difference (CFD) trading. CFDs are a high-risk investment product used to bet on the price of an asset, in this case the price of foreign currencies

Lord Leitch obituary

Sandy Leitch, Lord Leitch, who has died aged 76, was a prominent City figure over four decades. He became a valuable link between Tony Blair’s government and the financial services industry.The son of a miner, Leitch was steadfast in his Labour loyalties as he pursued a glittering business career that led him, in the 1990s, to become chief executive of the insurance group Allied Dunbar (later Zurich Financial Services UK), as well as chair of the Association of British Insurers.Close to both Blair and Gordon Brown, in 2000 he became chair of the New Deal taskforce, which had been entrusted with delivery of a key manifesto pledge, to tackle long-term and youth unemployment in partnership with the private sector, with funding raised through a levy on the privatised utilities.Leitch had a passion for upgrading the skills of the UK workforce, particularly among young people

Meta to use facial recognition technology in fight against celebrity investment scam ads

Meta is fighting the scourge of celebrity investment scam ads with facial recognition technology to detect those who most often have their images used.The parent company of Facebook and Instagram announced on Monday it would begin trialling the use of facial recognition technology with a select pool of 50,000 celebrities or public figures worldwide on an opt-out basis in December.If Meta’s existing systems suspect an ad may be a scam, it would compare the images in the ad against the public figure’s Facebook and Instagram profile pictures and, if it’s a match and the ad is a scam, it will be deleted.“This process is done in real time and is faster and much more accurate than manual human reviews, so it allows us to apply our enforcement policies more quickly and to protect people on our apps from scams and celebrities,” David Agranovich, director of global threat disruption at Meta, told reporters on Monday.The celebrities must have a Facebook or Instagram profile in order to participate in the system

Microsoft introduces ‘AI employees’ that can handle client queries

Microsoft is introducing autonomous artificial intelligence agents, or virtual employees, that can perform tasks such as handling client queries and identifying sales leads, as the tech sector strives to show investors that the AI boom can produce indispensable products.The US tech company is giving customers the ability to build their own AI agents as well as releasing 10 off-the-shelf bots that can carry out a range of roles including supply chain management and customer service.Early adopters of the Copilot Studio product, which launches next month, include the blue chip consulting firm McKinsey, which is building an agent to process new client inquiries by carrying out tasks such as scheduling follow-up meetings. Other early users include law firm Clifford Chance and retailer Pets at Home.Microsoft is flagging AI agents, which carry out tasks without human intervention, as an example of the technology’s ability to increase productivity – a measure of economic efficiency, or the amount of output generated by a worker for each hour worked

The New York Liberty show investment in women’s sports is simply good business

Five years after playing before crowds of 2,000 fans in White Plains, the Liberty completed a stunning turnaround with a first WNBA title. And the future looks brighter than everFrom the earliest days of the Women’s National Basketball Association, it seemed like winning a championship was only a matter of time for the New York Liberty. A glamour franchise by default, they first reached the doorstep of a title during the league’s inaugural season back in 1997, falling to the Houston Comets in a championship game that was attended by a robust crowd of 16,285 but wiped from the headlines within hours by the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. That was the first of five times New York tripped at the final hurdle, including last season’s crushing defeat to the Las Vegas Aces on their home floor. As the years became decades, much like their longtime Madison Square Garden co-tenants, coming up short became the Liberty’s brand despite a parade of name-brand stars like Rebecca Lobo, Teresa Weatherspoon, Becky Hammon, Cappie Pondexter and Tina Charles

What to look out for this season as jumps racing proper clicks into gear

In theory at least, the 2024-25 National Hunt season got under way in early May, but for most punters and fans, the Showcase meeting at Cheltenham, jumping’s spiritual home, on Friday and Saturday this week will be the first significant step on a road that eventually leads back to the Cotswolds in March and then on to Liverpool in April.Cheltenham features so sparingly on the calendar, with just nine days scheduled before the Festival meeting opens on 11 March, that every afternoon at the track feels precious for the winter code’s devotees.That first stride into the new campaign, however, may not feel quite so bold and confident this time around. Britain’s National Hunt racing industry is at least twice the size of its Irish counterpart in terms of the number of races and meetings it involves and the prize money on offer, yet it heads into the 2024-25 season feeling even more like the junior partner than it did 12 months ago.Willie Mullins’s latest – and arguably greatest – achievement yet in adding the British National Hunt trainers’ championship to his 18th title at home set the seal on another sobering season for British yards