TheChek News Flow

Whitehall watchdog accuses former UK prime minister of being ‘evasive’ around tie to Merlyn Advisors over Venezuela visit

Boris Johnson breached UK government rules by failing to disclose his relationship with a hedge fund that organised his visit to meet Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in February, according to the business appointments watchdog.

Lord Eric Pickles, chair of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, reported the breach in a letter to Oliver Dowden, UK deputy prime minister, on Friday.

Pickles said the former UK prime minister had been “evasive” in his dealings with Acoba, avoided answering specific questions and had “refused to be open about his relationship to Merlyn Advisors”, which the Financial Times revealed had arranged the controversial visit to Venezuela. 

Government rules state that former ministers must not announce or take up new appointments before Acoba has provided advice.

A spokesperson for Johnson was contacted for comment.

In a new report, StockX covers key areas related to its investments in product verification, brand protection relationships and more.

StockX is offering a view into its anti-counterfeiting and fraud prevention work through the release of its first Brand Protection & Customer Trust Report.

According to the sneaker and streetwear resale marketplace, the new report covers key areas related to StockX’s investments in product verification, brand protection relationships and its efforts to combat bad actors. The platform said it plans to release the report annually to provide further transparency into the work its doing to protect both consumers and brands.

Among the findings in the new report, StockX said that since its launch in 2016, the company’s verification experts have reviewed more than 55 million items and turned away more than $600 million worth of products across all categories that failed to meet its authentication requirements. Sneakers that were suspected to be fake accounted for about 13 percent — or $80 million — of that total.

StockX added that in 2023 alone, the company rejected more than 325,000 products valued at more than $82 million.

“One of our core values as an organization is to be a champion for our customers by, amongst other things, staying on the cutting edge of verification, investing in talent, constantly evolving our technology and systems and increasing transparency into the process,” Scott Cutler, chief executive officer of StockX, said in a statement.

Thursday’s report also highlighted the company’s continued efforts to develop new processes and partner with industry leaders to proactively block bad actors from defrauding shoppers on its platform.

In 2023, StockX noted that it unveiled a new fraud review process for sellers. Before a seller places an ask, StockX now uses advanced machine learning models as well as expert third-party fraud models to analyze hundreds of user and transaction data points and determine if the ask should be allowed on the marketplace. This check aims to help protect buyers and legitimate sellers from fraudsters. In 2023 alone, StockX said it blocked nearly 850,000 bad asks from being added to the marketplace and suspended more than 9,000 suspected fraudulent sellers before their asks could be added.

“This report points to how we’ve doubled down on that commitment to the customer and on our efforts to work directly with brands whenever we can,” Cutler added. “As the lines blur between resale and retail, collaboration between the two means market growth that delivers benefits for both sides and allows us to create a safer ecosystem for everyone to trade what they love.”

This new report from StockX seems to be an evolution of its “Big Facts: The Verification Report,” which offered a look into the company’s review process, the reasons for rejecting a product and broke down the counterfeit activity it experienced during the past 12 months.

In its June 2023 verification report, StockX said the leading reasons a product was rejected in the past year are manufacturing defects (27 percent) and fake products (20 percent), followed by damaged box (13 percent), used product (13 percent), wrong product (12 percent), wrong size (11 percent) and other (4 percent).

At the time of the report’s release, StockX said that the top five counterfeit sneaker styles that authenticators have seen most frequently included looks from Nike, Jordan Brand and Yeezy. Leading the list is the Nike Dunk Low “Panda” from 2021, followed by the Adidas Yeezy Slide “Onyx,” the Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Low “Reverse Mocha,” the Air Jordan 1 High “Dark Mocha” and the restocked Adidas Yeezy Slide “Pure.”

French group says it is looking at a ‘potential strategic transaction’ with US software specialist

French software and automation company Schneider Electric has said it is in talks over a potential deal with Bentley Systems, a US software specialist with a market value of roughly $15.6bn.

Schneider said on Friday it had “been holding discussions with Bentley Systems with regards to a potential strategic transaction”, adding that talks were still preliminary. The statement followed reports that the French group was in talks to take control of Bentley.

Pennsylvania-based Bentley, which makes software used in engineering projects, is controlled by the Bentley family.

The deal would be the first major acquisition under Schneider’s chief executive Peter Herweck, who took over last year, and could end up being the biggest-ever for the French company founded in the 19th century as an iron foundry.

The group is now a major specialist in automation and software that helps manage energy efficiency in buildings or data centres, and has become one of France’s most valuable companies, behind luxury groups such as LVMH and aerospace company Airbus.

It has grown through deals over the years, including the two-stage acquisition of British technology company Aveva, sealed in 2022 and valuing the company at £10.6bn.

Schneider shares fell about 2 per cent in morning trading on Friday after it confirmed it was in talks with Bentley, though they remain up by more than 18 per cent this year. Bentley shares rose 5 per cent in New York after reports of the talks emerged.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Schneider was in talks with Bentley for a deal that would combine their software businesses but keep them listed. Reuters earlier reported that Bentley was interested in exploring a sale and that other bidders could be looking at the group.

President Yoon Suk Yeol has pledged to target private use of company vehicles

Sales of luxury cars in South Korea have plunged after the government introduced rules requiring company cars worth more than $58,000 to carry a neon green licence plate in a bid to stop tax evasion.

President Yoon Suk Yeol made an election pledge two years ago to crack down on private use of company owned luxury cars. The bright green plates were designed to clearly identify company cars to the public and deter people from using them privately.

More than 70 per cent of top-end models from automakers such as Bentley, Lamborghini and Rolls-Royce that were purchased in Korea last year were under corporate accounts, according to industry data from the Korea Automobile Importers & Distributors Association.

But since the green licence plates were introduced in January, the number of foreign luxury vehicles priced at more than Won80mn ($58,000) that were registered as company cars has fallen by 27 per cent, according to KAIDA.

“Korea is a key market for luxury-car makers. The new rule is causing a headache for them as there is no effective way to revive sales here,” said Lee Hang-koo at the Jeonbuk Institute of Automotive Convergence Technology, a South Korean research group.  

Lee said he expected luxury car sales to slow further because the green plates would attract negative attention. “People will frown at the sight of supercars with green plates in entertainment or shopping districts or golf resorts,” he said.

South Korea has become one of the most important markets for European carmakers, ranking among the top three Asia markets for global luxury brands with about 34,000 cars priced at more than Won150mn ($108,000) sold last year, according to KAIDA and industry estimates.

But officials had expressed concerns that company vehicle purchases and maintenance costs were being deducted from corporate operating profits as expenses, reducing their tax exposure.

“We consulted the public, experts and the industry. They raised the issues of personal use and tax evasion of corporate vehicles so the new licence has been adopted to address these problems,” said Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in November.

Sales of Bentley vehicles in Korea dropped 77 per cent year on year in the January-March period to 38 units, while those of Rolls-Royce and Porsche dropped 35 per cent and 23 per cent respectively, according to KAIDA.

Lamborghini, 90 per cent whose Korea sales last year were as company vehicles, recorded a 22 per cent fall in the first quarter from a year earlier.

Dealers said the new rule has come at a time when the country’s slowing economy was already taking a toll on luxury-car makers.

“Orders are falling sharply this year after many of our customers advanced their purchases last year before the new rule came into effect,” said a Porsche dealer in the upmarket Gangnam district in Seoul.

“They prefer to buy cars under corporate accounts,” he added. “We are offering some discounts and promotions for some models but things are not getting better with the economy also in bad shape.”

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