Issue #76

Hong Kong stock exchange octuples, tennis pros angry at AI, board members work harder, and more. 

News from July 3 - July 10 2025

Tennis Pros Angry at AI

Tennis players at Wimbledon criticised the competition’s use of the AI-powered electronic line calling system (ELC) after it made incorrect calls on whether balls were in or out. 

In one instance, the umpire had to ask tennis pros Sonay Kartal and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to restart their game after the ELC failed to track the ball. In another, Ben Shelton felt the need to speed up his match after being informed that the ELC would soon stop working due to the dwindling sunlight. 

Chair of the All England Club Debbie Jevans: “When we did have linesmen, we were constantly asked why we didn’t have electronic line calling because it’s more accurate.”

Source

Shein Pressures London

Chinese fast fashion retailer Shein filed a draft prospectus with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, allegedly to pressure Britain’s FCA to approve its controversial London listing. 

This comes after the FCA and Shein couldn’t agree on a risk disclosure agreement involving Shein’s sourcing of cotton from China’s Xinjiang province, where the Uyghur people are subjected to forced labour. 

AJ Bell investment analyst Dan Coatsworth: “Shein failed to get a US listing off the ground, so its attention turned to the UK, where progress has been incredibly slow. Now it seems to be trying a different tactic where it plays one exchange off against another.”

Source

Monzo Gets Fined

Britain’s financial regulator fined Monzo £21 million for failing to implement robust Know Your Customer (KYC) systems as it grew its customer base from 600,000 people in 2018 to 5.8 million people in 2022. 

In a report, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that Monzo’s verification processes didn’t notice suspicious registration addresses like Buckingham Palace, Number 10 Downing Street, and Monzo’s London headquarters. Monzo also repeatedly onboarded tens of thousands of high-risk customers, flouting rules imposed upon it by the FCA.

FCA joint enforcement director Therese Chambers: “Monzo onboarded customers on the basis of limited, and in some cases, obviously implausible information.” 

Source

Bulletin Board

• 4-Day Workweek Drives Revenue. A 4-day workweek trial was successfully concluded by 17 British companies and over 1,000 employees, 62% of whom reported feeling less burnt out. Some organisations reported increased revenues, most notably BrandPipe, which saw revenue jump 130% in the 6-month trial. 4-day workweek participant CEO Alan Brunt: “I expect that most organisations will be doing this in the next 10 years or so.” Source
• Hong Kong Stock Exchange Octuples. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is predicted to become the world’s largest listing destination this year, after seeing its value increase eight times the amount it was last year. Since the start of 2025, it has had 43 new listings with a combined value of $13.6 billion, driven by slow mainland Chinese IPO approvals and fears of US delistings of Chinese companies. Source
• Deals Are Fewer but Bigger. According to data from the London Stock Exchange, dealmaking is at its lowest since 2015 due to a combination of uncertainty, global instability, and a declining dollar. However, deals are getting bigger as investors seek to capitalise on low-risk, high-performing businesses, with deals of more than $10 billion increasing 75% this year. Source
• AI Stops Media Traffic. Since Google unveiled its AI Overview feature in May 2024, organic traffic to news sites declined to 1.7 billion visits, down from 2.3 billion, while ‘no click-throughs’ to news sites increased to 69%. Meanwhile, news-related prompts on ChatGPT grew 212%. This comes in the wake of record-breaking mass layoffs at media companies. ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman: “There is going to be real pain here in many cases.” Source
• Board Members Work Harder. Workloads for board members have doubled since the pandemic, as record-breaking numbers of CEO transitions require time-consuming searches for new senior leadership roles. This has resulted in rising tensions between board members and management, with the number of executives complaining about board overreach doubling since last year. Board members are increasingly at odds, too, with one quarter of them wanting multiple colleagues replaced. Source

‍Disclaimer: This blog offers insights into international business and global events for informational purposes only. It is not intended as investment or business advice. WeavePay is not liable for any decisions made based on the content provided.

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