Risk

• DBS has completed a US$1 billion significant risk transfer (SRT) deal, marking the first time a Singaporean bank has executed such a transaction. • The deal provides investors with exposure to a corporate loan portfolio while allowing DBS to free up critical regulatory capital. • This strategic move is significant as it optimizes the bank's balance sheet and enhances its ability to manage risk and deploy capital more efficiently.

• Accenture (ACN) and ServiceNow (NOW) have launched a joint initiative to modernize enterprise risk management using agentic AI. • The collaboration combines ServiceNow's AI Platform with a specialized Accenture migration solution to lower the cost and complexity of replacing legacy cybersecurity systems. • This partnership addresses the critical need for faster threat response, as average data breach costs have now climbed to $10.22 million per incident.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified AI-driven cyberattacks as the primary risk currently facing banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs). • The RBI warned that the global surge in AI investment could lead to wider financial stability concerns, necessitating stronger incident response and digital evidence preservation. • To combat these threats, the Inter-Ministerial Group on the Financial Sector Cybersecurity Strategy, mandated in August 2025, is working to harmonize regulations across the sector.

The AI company was forced earlier this month to suspend access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for all foreign nationalsAnthropic has restored customer access to its powerful newest AI model, Fable, after a more than two-week blackout resulting from US government safety concerns that it could be abused to enable serious cyber-attacks.The San Francisco company said export controls have been lifted, citing a social media post from the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, in which he said: “Over the past two weeks, we have worked closely with Anthropic to analyze and approve Fable 5 to ensure alignment across the US Government and strengthen America’s leadership in AI.” Continue reading...

• The UK stock market experienced a broad rally today, with the FTSE 100 reaching a record high alongside gains in the FTSE 250, 350, and All-Share indices. • This surge was driven by a combination of stronger-than-expected UK GDP growth data, a decrease in oil prices, and easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. • The rally reflects a significant boost in investor sentiment, as positive economic indicators and reduced global risks encouraged buying activity across London's major indices.

Track record of Welsh Water shows public ownership is not the answer to all the woes in the utilities sectorGood news for Andy Burnham: one of the original 10 water privatisations from the Thatcher-era has returned to public ownership already. Thanks to a complicated turn-of-the-century corporate saga, Welsh Water, serving 3 million people, converted to not-for-profit status in 2001. It has no shareholders. Financial surpluses go “straight back into keeping bills down and looking after your water and beautiful environment”, as the website blurb puts it.How’s it going? After a quarter of a century without dividend-hungry shareholders to feed, has the model proved its superiority? Not exactly. Welsh Water usually has high scores on customer trust metrics but its performance on bills and spills tends to be middle of the pack. Continue reading...

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified AI-led cyber threats as the top risk for lenders over the next 12 months. • The RBI warns that rapid advances in AI models, such as Claude Mythos, are increasing the sophistication, speed, and scale of cyber incidents. • A survey revealed that most lenders are currently in the "developing" or "intermediate" stages of cybersecurity readiness, with only a small minority reaching the "mature" stage.