CYBERSECURITY

T-Mobile settles to pay $350M to customers in data breach

Telecommunications company T-Mobile has agreed to pay $350 million to customers affected by a class action lawsuit, after personal data such as social security numbers were stolen in a cyberattack. In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company said the funds would pay for claims by class members, the legal fees of plaintiffs’ counsel and the costs of administering the settlement. It also said it would spend $150 million to fortify its data security and other technologies. Nearly 80 million US residents were affected by the breach. In addition to social security numbers, other information breached included names and information from driver’s licenses or other identification. T-Mobile said the settlement contains no admission of liability, wrongdoing or responsibility by any of the defendants. (ABC News)

CORPORATE REPUTATION

UBS participates in US probe into unapproved staff messaging

Financial services company UBS has signalled that it is part of a broad probe by US regulators into messaging by bank employees that is likely to result in fines of about $1 billion. The Swiss bank is cooperating with investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regarding compliance with records preservation requirements relating to business communications sent over “unapproved” electronic messaging channels. The disclosure comes after several US investment banks including Morgan Stanley and Citigroup said they expect to pay $200 million each to settle their part of the probe. European banks Deutsche Bank and HSBC are also part of the probe. Finance firms are required to monitor business-related communications to prevent improper conduct and allow regulators to scrutinise messages. (Bloomberg)*

GENDER

Quarter of firms reach Lloyd’s of London female leadership target

A quarter of firms operating at insurance company Lloyd’s of London have reached the company’s market target for 35% of leaders to be women. Lloyd's, which has previously acknowledged issues with sexual harassment and daytime drinking, published its first culture report in 2020 and has set targets for improvement, including gender representation in leadership. According to Lloyd’s 18 firms – 26% of those surveyed – met or exceeded the target for 35% of boards, executive committees and committees' direct reports to be women. In the past year, 63% percent of firms increased their proportion of women in leadership. However, the average gender pay gap across Lloyd's market firms remains high, at 37%. Elsewhere, ethnic minority representation rose by only 1 percentage point to 9%. (Reuters)

SUPPLY CHAIN

Illegal Brazil gold tied to Italian refiner and US tech giants

Brazilian police allege an Italian refiner purchased gold from a trader sourcing it illegally in the Amazon rainforest region. Police documents and corporate disclosures show that the refiner has supplied the precious metal to four of the world’s largest tech companies. Public filings by tech giants Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet name the private Italian firm Chimet as a source of some gold used in their products. Brazilian federal police have accused Chimet of buying $385 million worth of gold from trader CHM do Brasil, which allegedly acquired the metal illegally from wildcat miners. A Chimet representative said the company cut off relations with CHM upon learning of the allegations. Apple responded to say its policies prohibit the use of illegally mined minerals. (Reuters)

CAMPAIGNS & ACTIVISM

University of Cambridge poised to drop BP from its institute

The University of Cambridge is reportedly considering removing oil and gas company BP from the name of one of its leading research institutes, following climate activist pressure. It would mean the ‘BP Institute’ – a research centre at the University which is funded by BP – could be set for a major rebrand. It follows reports that the University’s vice-chancellor has told academics that a name change for the Institute that better reflects the University’s values is to be agreed. The research centre has been the site of numerous demonstrations and occupations in recent years by students protesting the University’s ongoing acceptance of sponsorship from fossil fuel companies. A spokesperson said the University remained committed to its policy of only accepting funding from energy companies committed to the net-zero transition. (Business Green)*

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