Risk Channel delivers the latest, most relevant and useful business intelligence to key decision makers and influencers, each weekday morning.

Shell CEO Wael Sawan has said energy shortages could ​hit Europe by next month due to the Middle East conflict, now in its fourth week. "South Asia was first ​to get that brunt. That's moved to Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and then more so into Europe as we get ​into April," Sawan said while speaking at the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas. He added that countries cannot have national security without energy security. Sawan said Shell was trying to work with governments to help them address the energy crisis, including with storage and purchasing.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

The Daily Telegraph

BBC News

European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Boris Vujcic - who becomes ECB vice president in June - has said the bank must be “very agile and vigilant” to keep prices in check as the Iran war heightens stagflation risks. “We do not see stagflation but the risk is moving into the direction of stagflation,” the Croatian central bank chief said. “How far we’ll get in that direction is very difficult to predict.”

 

Bloomberg

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume has told Bild am Sonntag that Germany's car industry could learn from China's disciplined industrial ​planning. "The Chinese proceed in a very ⁠planned way . . . and have clear ​priorities - it is structured in an ​optimal way," Blume told the newspaper in an interview. "What we experience very positively in China is ​a high level of discipline ​and willingness to execute," he said. "It is ‌worth ⁠looking beyond our own backyard . . . we can learn a great deal from how the country has developed." Blume reiterated Volkswagen's plans to cut 50,000 German jobs by ⁠2030 ​as part of ​an ongoing restructuring.

 

Reuters

Siemens CEO Roland Busch has said it would be a “disaster” for Europe to prioritise building its own sovereign AI infrastructure ahead of boosting economic growth by deploying existing tools. Meanwhile, Cedrik Neike, who heads the firm’s Digital Industries unit, has said Siemens believes AI is less of a threat to its software business than some peers because it is difficult to meet the high standards of industry processes covered by its products.

 

Bloomberg

Financial Times

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced mediation to salvage the FCAS programme, a flagship European fighter jet project between France, Germany and Spain which has faltered amid disagreements between France's Dassault Aviation and Airbus. "It is an important signal and a valuable commitment to German industry that the government, together with France, is now pushing for a swift resolution," said German Aerospace Industries Association (BDLI) CEO Marie-Christine von Hahn. "After months of uncertainty, a viable solution is now needed that also serves Germany's defence, industrial and economic interests," she said.

 

Le Monde

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has urged the investment industry to reduce its dependence on regulatory guidance. Simon Walls, interim executive director of markets at the FCA, said that the industry is in a "codependent relationship" with the regulator, with firms often asking it to make decisions or prescribe detailed rules, rather than using their own judgement. Walls warns that over-regulation and industry caution are contributing to low levels of investment in the UK, adding that this is "bad for the individuals but it can also be bad for the economy." He argues that a cultural shift is needed so investors accept that market downturns are normal and not a reason to retreat or seek regulatory intervention.

 

City AM

Companies will have to provide information on the individuals behind corporate donations to UK political parties under rules expected to be announced to tackle foreign financial interference.

 

Financial Times

Interviews with more than 80,000 users of Anthropic’s Claude chatbot across 159 countries provide one of the most detailed snapshots yet of how people use AI. The report found that AI in the workplace to automate tasks was one of the biggest use cases of the technology, although some people said they feared they would lose cognitive abilities in the process. Nearly half of lawyers interviewed said they had encountered AI unreliability firsthand, but they also reported the highest rates of realised decision-making benefits of any profession. Over a quarter (27%) of respondents said they were concerned about AI making poor or incorrect decisions, and 22% said they were fearful about the technology's impact on jobs and the economy. Users in North America, Western Europe and Oceania were worried more about governance gaps, regulatory failure, and surveillance; those in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and South Asia were much more positive about AI.

 

EdTech Innovation Hub

Euronews

Financial Times

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has pledged to further open ​the country's economy to foreign businesses and pursue more balanced trade with its global partners. Li told the China Development Forum in Beijing that China will import more high-quality foreign goods and work with all parties to promote optimised and balanced trade development. He also touted China as a safer, and more reliable and stable, partner in contrast to an America embroiled in a war with Iran. Li didn’t directly name the US. Global chief executives including Apple’s Tim Cook, UBS’s Sergio Ermotti and HSBC’s Georges Elhedery attended the annual two-day gathering.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

South China Morning Post reports on how global pharma giants are building self-reliant supply chains in China to insulate local markets from potential trade disruptions. AstraZeneca, for example, has signed a memorandum of understanding with authorities in Guangzhou to build a radioconjugate drug manufacturing site that would produce next-generation cancer drugs for patients in China and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Iskra Reic, AstraZeneca executive vice-president for international, observed: “The Greater Bay Area offers world-class manufacturing infrastructure and a mature biopharmaceutical ecosystem.”

 

South China Morning Post

Bang & Olufsen has lowered its full-year guidance and withdrawn midterm targets after disappointing sales of its Beosound Premiere soundbar drove third-quarter revenue down 1.7% to DKK621m ($96.5m) and adjusted EBIT to DKK12m, both below expectations. The group now expects flat to -3% revenue growth and free cash flow of between -DKK150m and -DKK200m, citing weak consumer sentiment, geopolitical uncertainty and execution issues, while it continues the search for a new chief executive.

 

The Copenhagen Post

Wall Street Journal

A study by Cornell University in the US has found that employees who are impressed by corporate jargon may struggle with effective decision-making. “There's a lot of useful things about the way people in a certain company speak to each other. But it becomes problematic when that turns into nonsense that's used for misleading purposes,” Shane Littrell, a postdoctoral researcher and cognitive psychologist at Cornell University who authored the study, said. “It's the people that can't tell the difference that seem to have the most problems.” The research indicates that those susceptible to corporate jargon often display lower analytical thinking and problem-solving skills. The study highlights the need for awareness of how corporate jargon can mislead even highly educated professionals.

 

The Guardian