logo

Esma urges social media companies to tackle unauthorised financial ads

Finextra28-05-2025

Esma urges social media companies to tackle unauthorised financial ads
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU's financial markets regulator and supervisor, has today written to several social media and platform companies (X, Meta, TikTok, Alphabet, Telegram, Snap, Amazon, Apple, Google, and Reddit) encouraging them to take proactive steps to prevent the promotion of unauthorised financial services.
0
External
This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Alcohol consumption by Irish adults falls by almost 5% in a year
Alcohol consumption by Irish adults falls by almost 5% in a year

BreakingNews.ie

time35 minutes ago

  • BreakingNews.ie

Alcohol consumption by Irish adults falls by almost 5% in a year

The level of alcohol consumption by Irish adults has fallen by almost 5 per cent in the last year. The latest data has been described as consistent with a downward trend recorded over the last 25 years. Advertisement A new report by economist Anthony Foley found the average alcohol consumption per adult fell by 4.5 per cent last year to 9.49 litres of pure alcohol. This is a drop of more than one-third (34.3 per cent) since 2001. Total consumption in Ireland fell by 2.4 per cent last year to 41.5 million litres, which equates to an overall 4.5 per cent drop in alcohol intake per person when last year's 2.3 per cent increase in the population is taken into account. The report indicates that consumption tastes are also evolving. Advertisement Beer was the Ireland's most popular alcohol last year, with its market share increasing to 43.3 per cent despite an overall drop in beer consumption. Wine was the second-most popular drink, increasing its market share to 28.2 per cent in 2024. Its popularity has increased significantly since 2000 (13.2 per cent). Meanwhile, spirits fell to 22.3 per cent and cider fell to 6.1 per cent. The report was commissioned by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (Digi), which said the figures demonstrated that Irish people are increasingly drinking alcohol in moderation. Advertisement It follows other recent data which suggests that alcohol consumption in Ireland is now at average European levels. OECD data for 2022 revealed that Irish consumption ranks behind countries including France, Spain and Austria, and a separate report by the Health Research Board last year also indicated that Ireland's alcohol consumption was at average levels by EU or OECD standards. Donall O'Keefe, the secretary of Digi and chief executive of the Licensed Vintners Association, said the findings are reflective of a trend over the last 25 years. He has also called on Government to cut excise rates. Advertisement 'Today's figures offer clear proof of what many of us already know – Irish people are increasingly drinking in a restrained manner, with consumption continuing the downward trajectory that has been recorded since the millennium,' he said. 'In contrast to the negative stereotypes that once existed, alcohol consumption in Ireland is now at average European levels, with the purchase of non-alcoholic drinks continuing to increase. 'This downward trend also raises the obvious question as to why Ireland continues to have the second-highest excise rates on alcohol in Europe. 'Given that we now consume alcohol at average European levels it makes sense that we should pay excise at average European levels also. Advertisement 'This is particularly true following the introduction of minimum unit pricing which prevents the sale of strong alcohol at low prices in supermarkets and shops. 'Across Ireland, hundreds of small rural pubs and restaurants are struggling for survival due to repeated increases in the cost of doing businesses, including staff, energy and insurance. 'A cut in excise would offer these businesses an opportunity to continue acting as vital hubs in their communities, as well as a crucial part of our tourism product.' 'Digi will be seeking a 10 per cent cut in excise in this year's budget as an urgent measure to give these businesses a fighting chance of survival.' The Digi report was compiled by Prof Foley, associate professor emeritus at Dublin City University, using data from the CSO population and migration estimates for April 2024 and the Revenue Commissioners' alcohol clearances data.

Breakingviews - The EU can play it cool with Trump's trade threats
Breakingviews - The EU can play it cool with Trump's trade threats

Reuters

time40 minutes ago

  • Reuters

Breakingviews - The EU can play it cool with Trump's trade threats

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Other governments have so far taken three main approaches to dealing with Donald Trump's trade threats. China hit back hard at the U.S. president's tariffs and got him to back down partly. Canada also retaliated and avoided some of the pain Trump inflicted on other countries. Meanwhile, Britain cut a quick deal that favoured the United States. None of these is a model for the European Union. The 27-member group is not China. Though its bilateral goods trade, opens new tab with the United States last year was worth 70% more than between the U.S. and the People's Republic, opens new tab, the EU is not an autocracy that can outpunch Trump. If it antagonises the U.S. president, he might up the stakes by pulling the rug from under Ukraine and undermining the EU's defences. American hard power gives it what geopolitical strategists call 'escalation dominance'. The EU is not Canada either. Ottawa was able to hang tough because its people were infuriated that Trump was trying to blackmail Canada into becoming part of the United States. While anti-Trump sentiment is high, opens new tab in the EU, politicians who are sympathetic to him, such as Poland's new president, can still get elected. On the other hand, the EU is not the United Kingdom. Both are at risk from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But the EU trades seven times more goods with the United States than Britain, opens new tab does - so Washington has more to lose if economic relations break down. There is another way for the EU to handle Trump's threats: play it cool. That is more or less what the bloc is doing. It involves neither escalating the conflict nor accepting a bad deal. It means being open to a good agreement if the U.S. lowers its demands, but willing to play the long game if it does not. One reason to buy time is to help Kyiv. The longer the EU has to prepare its own support package for Ukraine, which should include getting it a lot of cash, the less the damage if Trump ultimately cuts off all U.S. aid to the country. The president's own vulnerabilities may also increase over time. Just look at the spectacular end of his alliance with Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab boss Elon Musk. The fragile U.S. trade truce with China may break down causing more financial turmoil, making Trump less keen to pick a fight with the EU. If the Supreme Court stops him using emergency powers to impose tariffs, his negotiating position will be weaker. And tariffs could hurt the U.S. more than its supposed victims, by pushing up inflation and crimping growth. Trump has zig-zagged in his trade threats and actions against the EU. The current state of play is that there are 50% tariffs on U.S. imports of steel and aluminium from the bloc, a 25% tariff on cars and 10% so-called reciprocal tariffs on most other goods. The U.S. president has threatened to jack up these reciprocal tariffs to 50% if there is no deal by July 9. He is also looking at more 'sectoral tariffs', including on pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. While the EU has complained to the World Trade Organization (WTO), it has delayed its own retaliation. Its negotiators accept that they are unlikely to overturn the reciprocal tariffs, the Financial Times, opens new tab has reported. The bloc still aims to avoid the sectoral ones. Those on cars and any on pharmaceuticals would hurt it the most. It has dangled the possibility of buying more U.S. equipment and natural gas to get a deal. An agreement on those lines could be good for the EU. It needs to beef up its defences and eliminate its purchases of Russian gas. While it would be best to have its own arms and energy supplies, buying more from the U.S. makes sense as an interim measure. An important nuance, though, is that the EU should reserve the right to take action against the reciprocal tariffs after the WTO issues its verdict, says Ignacio Garcia Bercero, opens new tab, a former senior EU trade official. Such a pact would involve quite a climbdown by Trump. True, arms and gas purchases would narrow the U.S. goods deficit with the EU, which was $236 billion, opens new tab last year. But his administration has a host of other complaints including the bloc's value-added tax and food safety standards as well the digital taxes that some of its members impose on tech giants. It is hard to see the bloc agreeing anything in those areas, says Simon Evenett, professor of geopolitics and strategy at IMD. Although the U.S. side described last week's trade talks with the EU as 'very constructive, opens new tab', discussions could easily break down. The question then is how the bloc would react if Trump imposed higher reciprocal tariffs. The EU has so far imposed no countermeasures. Though it has agreed to tax 21 billion euros of U.S. imports in response to the steel and aluminium tariffs, it has delayed these until July 14 to try to get a deal. The European Commission, its executive arm, is also consulting on taxing a further 95 billion euros of U.S. imports in response to the car tariffs and the reciprocal ones. But added together, these tit-for-tat measures would be equivalent to only a third of the 379 billion euros of EU imports subject to Trump's tariffs. Some analysts, opens new tab think the bloc needs to be tougher. One idea is to crack down on American services, where the U.S. had a 109 billion euro, opens new tab surplus with the EU in 2023. Another is to activate its 'anti-coercion instrument, opens new tab', which would allow retaliation against U.S. companies operating in the bloc. Yet another is to threaten to ban exports of critical goods, such as the lithographic equipment necessary to make semiconductors. Extreme events may require extreme responses. But for now, the EU should keep its cool. It should not kid itself that it is stronger or more united than it is. It should remember that Trump may get weaker with time. And it should never forget Ukraine. Follow @Hugodixon, opens new tab on X

Getty's landmark UK lawsuit on copyright and AI set to begin
Getty's landmark UK lawsuit on copyright and AI set to begin

Reuters

timean hour ago

  • Reuters

Getty's landmark UK lawsuit on copyright and AI set to begin

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - Getty Images' landmark copyright lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Stability AI begins at London's High Court on Monday, with the photo provider's case likely to set a key precedent for the law on AI. The Seattle-based company, which produces editorial content and creative stock images and video, accuses Stability AI of breaching its copyright by using its images to "train" its Stable Diffusion system, which can generate images from text inputs. Getty, which is bringing a parallel lawsuit against Stability AI in the United States, says Stability AI unlawfully scraped millions of images from its websites and used them to train and develop Stable Diffusion. Stability AI – which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in funding and in March announced investment by the world's largest advertising company, WPP (WPP.L), opens new tab – is fighting the case and denies infringing any of Getty's rights. A Stability AI spokesperson said that "the wider dispute is about technological innovation and freedom of ideas," adding: "Artists using our tools are producing works built upon collective human knowledge, which is at the core of fair use and freedom of expression." Getty's case is one of several lawsuits brought in Britain, the U.S. and elsewhere over the use of copyright-protected material to train AI models, after ChatGPT and other AI tools became widely available more than two years ago. Creative industries are grappling with the legal and ethical implications of AI models that can produce their own work after being trained on existing material. Prominent figures including Elton John have called for greater protections for artists. Lawyers say Getty's case will have a major impact on the law, as well as potentially informing government policy on copyright protections relating to AI. "Legally, we're in uncharted territory. This case will be pivotal in setting the boundaries of the monopoly granted by UK copyright in the age of AI," Rebecca Newman, a lawyer at Addleshaw Goddard, who is not involved in the case, said. She added that a victory for Getty could mean that Stability AI and other developers will face further lawsuits. Cerys Wyn Davies, from the law firm Pinsent Masons, said the High Court's ruling "could have a major bearing on market practice and the UK's attractiveness as a jurisdiction for AI development".

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store