Facebook WhatsApp Data Sharing Plan Blocked

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is coming into force in May. 

Facebook is currently not compliant and the UK Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, has prohibited data sharing, forcing Facebook to put a priority on achieving GPDR compliance.

The ICO's French equivalent is in the process of conducting similar action.

So far the ICO's largest fine was the penalty of £400,000 on TalkTalk for failing to protect customer data from cyber attack.

Unilever Selects Legal Base of Rotterdam over London

Historically and inherently Anglo-Dutch, Unilever was formed from the merger of Dutch Margarine Unie and British soap maker Lever Brothers in 1930. Unilever is now looking to simplify its corporate structure and base its legal headquarters in Rotterdam, following a review of its dual-head structure triggered in 2017 by a $143bn takeover attempt by Kraft Heinz. Chief Executive Paul Polman said "This is not about Brexit".

IP Week set to start in London on Tuesday 20 February 2018

IP Week is set to start in London at the InterContinental Park Lane. Talks will be given by engineer and SMU (Dallas) MBA Bob Dudley, Group Chief Executive of BP (who succeeded Tony Hayward in October 2010), HE Suhail Al Mazrouei, the UAE Minister of Energy and Industry and Shell CFO Jessica Uhl (UCB and Insead). IP Week is hosted by the Energy Institute.

Twitter Posts its First Profit - A Whopping $91m for Q4 2017

This compares with a loss of $167m from the same period a year ago.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Closes Down 4.7%, European Markets Down 3% and Recovers 1%

The sell off was driven by strong US data - followed by remarks that the stock market was at its peak.

PwC Role under the Radar in Carillion Crisis

PwC has been given the role of special manager to the Government's Official Receiver in the wake of the Carillion crisis. However, PwC is also an adviser to the Cabinet Office on outsourcing, and an adviser to the Carillion pension scheme. (The Cabinet Office is a ministerial department that supports the Prime Minister). Philip Green, CBE, is Chairman of Carillion.

BP pays out $3bn compensation in 2017 instead of $2bn for Deepwater Horizon

The increase was due to a court ruling tying compensation to revenues. The revelation led to a 2.65% dent in the share price of the British oil giant. The total compensation bill stands at $65bn.