There's Not a Lot of M&A Targets Around, Says EFG CEO Pradelli
Swiss wealth manager EFG International CEO Giorgio Pradelli says there are not many acquisition targets at the moment despite "very active" interest. Last year, Pradelli had said he was looking at potential deals 'north of 5 billion' Swiss francs ($6 billion), with Switzerland, the UK, Luxembourg and Monaco being potential places to deploy excess capital. EFG announced the purchase of smaller rival Cité Gestion earlier this year. While the financial industry has seen some mergers and acquisitions in the past few weeks, a broader global slump in dealmaking has spilled over to this year as investors remain on the sidelines to make sense of US President Donald Trump's tariff war. Pradelli spoke on "The Pulse with Francine Lacqua" on Bloomberg TV. (Source: Bloomberg)
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Miami Herald
34 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
Europe's growing fear: How Trump might use US tech dominance against it
LONDON -- When President Donald Trump issued an executive order in February against the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for investigating Israel for war crimes, Microsoft was suddenly thrust into the middle of a geopolitical fight. For years, Microsoft had supplied the court -- which is based in The Hague in the Netherlands and investigates and prosecutes human rights breaches, genocides and other crimes of international concern -- with digital services such as email. Trump's order abruptly threw that relationship into disarray by barring U.S. companies from providing services to the prosecutor, Karim Khan. Soon after, Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Washington, helped turn off Khan's ICC email account, freezing him out of communications with colleagues just a few months after the court had issued an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel for his country's actions in the Gaza Strip. Microsoft's swift compliance with Trump's order, reported earlier by The Associated Press, shocked policymakers across Europe. It was a wake-up call for a problem far bigger than just one email account, stoking fears that the Trump administration would leverage America's tech dominance to penalize opponents, even in allied countries like the Netherlands. 'The ICC showed this can happen,' said Bart Groothuis, a former head of cybersecurity for the Dutch Ministry of Defense who is now a member of the European Parliament. 'It's not just fantasy.' Groothuis once supported U.S. tech firms but has done a '180-degree flip-flop,' he said. 'We have to take steps as Europe to do more for our sovereignty.' Some at the ICC are now using Proton, a Swiss company that provides encrypted email services, three people with knowledge of the communications said. Microsoft said the decision to suspend Khan's email had been made in consultation with the ICC. The company said it had since enacted policy changes that had been in the works before the episode to protect customers in similar geopolitical situations in the future. When the Trump administration sanctioned four additional ICC judges this month, their email accounts were not suspended, the company said. Brad Smith, Microsoft's president, said concerns raised by the ICC episode were a 'symptom' of a larger erosion of trust between the United States and Europe. 'The ICC issue added fuel to a fire that was already burning,' he said. Khan has been on leave from the ICC since last month, pending a sexual misconduct investigation. He has denied the allegations. An ICC spokesperson said it was taking steps to 'mitigate risks which may affect the court's personnel' and 'taking extensive measures to ensure the continuity of all relevant operations and services in the face of sanctions.' The episode has set off alarms across Europe about how dependent European governments, businesses and citizens are on U.S. tech companies like Microsoft for essential digital infrastructure -- and how hard it will be to disentangle themselves. Concerns about how else Trump might leverage technology for political advantage has jump-started efforts across the region to develop alternatives. Casper Klynge, a former Danish and European Union diplomat who worked for Microsoft, said the episode was in many ways the 'smoking gun that many Europeans had been looking for.' 'If the U.S. administration goes after certain organizations, countries or individuals, the fear is American companies are obligated to comply,' said Klynge, who now works for a cybersecurity company. 'It's had a profound impact.' The tech debate adds to an increasingly fractious U.S.-European relationship over trade, tariffs and the war in Ukraine. Trump and Vice President JD Vance have criticized how Europe regulates U.S. tech companies, and U.S. officials have made digital oversight and taxation part of ongoing trade negotiations. European regulators have argued that they need to be able to police the biggest digital platforms in their own countries without worrying that they will face political pressure and punishment from a foreign government. 'If we don't build adequate capacity within Europe, then we won't be able to make political choices anymore,' said Alexandra Geese, a member of the European Parliament. Since Edward Snowden's leak of scores of documents in 2013 detailing widespread U.S. surveillance of digital communications, Europeans have sought to diminish their reliance on U.S. tech. Lawmakers and regulators have targeted Apple, Meta, Google and others for anticompetitive business practices, privacy-invading services, and the spread of disinformation and other divisive content. Yet without viable alternatives, institutions across the region have turned to U.S. digital services. Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other U.S. firms control more than 70% of the cloud computing market in Europe, which is the essential way for storing files, retrieving data and running other programs, according to Synergy Research Group. The ICC has been a longtime customer of Microsoft, which provides the court with services including the Office software suite and software for evidence analysis and file storage, according to an ICC lawyer who declined to be identified discussing internal procedures. Microsoft has also provided cybersecurity software to help the court withstand digital attacks from adversaries like Russia, which is being investigated for war crimes in Ukraine. In February, after Trump issued penalties against Khan, Microsoft met with ICC officials to decide how to respond. They concluded that Microsoft's broader work for the court could continue but that Khan's email should be suspended. He switched his correspondence to another email account, said a person who has communicated with him. Sara Elizabeth Dill, a lawyer who specializes in sanctions compliance, said the Trump administration was increasingly using sanctions and executive orders to target international institutions, universities and other organizations, forcing companies to make hard choices about how to comply. 'This is a quagmire and places these corporations in a very difficult position,' she said. How tech companies with global services respond is especially important, she added, 'as the broad repercussions are what people and organizations are primarily worried about.' Microsoft and other U.S. companies have sought to reassure European customers. On Monday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella visited the Netherlands and announced new 'sovereign solutions' for European institutions, including legal and data security protections for 'a time of geopolitical volatility.' Amazon and Google have also announced policies aimed at European customers. Still, many institutions are exploring alternatives. In the Netherlands, the 'subject of digital autonomy and sovereignty has the full attention of the central government,' Eddie van Marum, the state secretary of digitalization in the Ministry of Interior Affairs, said in a statement. The country is working with European providers on new solutions, he said. In Denmark, the digital ministry is testing alternatives to Microsoft Office. In Germany, the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein is also taking steps to cut its use of Microsoft. In the European Union, officials have announced plans to spend billions of euros on new artificial intelligence data centers and cloud computing infrastructure that rely less on U.S. companies. Groothuis, the Dutch member of the European Parliament, said lawmakers in Brussels were discussing policy changes that would encourage governments to favor buying tech services from EU-based companies. 'The situation is not tenable, and we see a big push from European governments to become more independent and more resilient,' said Andy Yen, CEO of Proton. European tech companies see an opportunity to win customers from their U.S. rivals. Cloud service providers like Intermax Group, based in the Netherlands, and Exoscale, based in Switzerland, said they had seen a jump in new business. 'A few years ago, everyone was saying, 'They're our trusted partners,'' Ludo Baauw, Intermax's CEO, said of U.S. tech companies. 'There's been a radical change.' This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
ETF Strategies to Follow If US Joins Israel's Attack
Financial markets could face a sudden selloff if the U.S. military initiates an attack on Iran. Economists caution that a sharp spike in oil prices could further strain a global economy already challenged by U.S. tariffs under President Donald Trump. According to data from prediction market Polymarket, the likelihood of U.S. military action against Iran before July was 63%, down from 82% earlier in the week but still markedly higher than the 35% probability before the recent escalation, as quoted on Yahoo Finance. Middle East tensions add to investor worries already heightened by Trump's trade policies. The World Bank recently cut its global growth forecast for 2025 by 0.4 percentage points to 2.3%, indicating tariffs as major headwinds for nearly all economies. Franklin International Core Dividend Tilt Index ETF DIVI, which yields 3.81% annually, may offer a safer exposure, in this case. The fund is up 18% so far this year. With major U.S. stock indices hovering near record levels, some investors worry that equities may be especially sensitive to further geopolitical turmoil. Chuck Carlson, CEO of Horizon Investment Services, noted that an initial market dip is likely if the United States becomes more deeply involved in the conflict, as quoted on Yahoo Finance. However, he also suggested that a faster escalation could result in the conflict's faster resolution. Seeking exposure to quality ETFs like iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF QUAL makes sense. Growing fears of a broader war in Iran led investors to seek safe havens, causing U.S. Treasury yields to drop. The U.S. dollar strengthened against both the Japanese yen and Swiss franc — traditional safe-haven currencies. Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund UUP added about 1.3% over the past five days (as of June 18, 2025). SPDR Gold Shares GLD is another safe haven bet, while dividend-growth ETFs like SPDR S&P Dividend ETF SDY also offer safer exposure. Barclays analysts warned that if Iranian oil exports were cut in half, crude could climb to $85 per barrel. In a worst-case scenario involving a broader war, prices might soar to $100. Brent crude was recently trading around $76, as quoted on yahoo finance. United States Oil Fund LP USO jumped 11.2% over the past five days. Citigroup economists also flagged the risk of a negative supply shock, warning that higher oil prices would dampen global growth and boost inflation — adding pressure on central banks already grappling with trade-related economic stress, as quoted on yahoo finance. As President Donald Trump considers whether to support Israel in its ongoing strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, a key concern remains: how might Iran retaliate? The central question lies in the narrow but critical waterway — the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime chokepoint linking the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea and international waters. It lies between Iran to the north and Oman to the south, and is only 35 to 60 miles wide at its narrowest points. Despite its size, it is the world's most crucial passage for fossil fuel exports. Roughly 20% of global oil and seaborne natural gas shipments pass through the strait, making it indispensable for global energy markets. As such, any disruption in the area can cause considerable economic downside. Defense stocks have also seen gains amid rising conflict. The S&P 500 Aerospace and Defense Index reached record highs last week, capping a 30% rebound following losses triggered by Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff announcement. One can keep an eye on iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report SPDR Gold Shares (GLD): ETF Research Reports Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF (UUP): ETF Research Reports United States Oil ETF (USO): ETF Research Reports SPDR S&P Dividend ETF (SDY): ETF Research Reports iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA): ETF Research Reports iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (QUAL): ETF Research Reports Franklin International Core Dividend Tilt Index ETF (DIVI): ETF Research Reports This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Bloomberg
Insider Trading Siblings Used Lockdown to Make £1 Million
Before the market opened on Feb. 4, 2020, traders were watching Swiss testing company SGS SA, waiting for its shares to drop. Overnight it had been announced that the Von Finck family were going to sell 2.3 billion francs ($2.8 billion) of their holding. That's a huge chunk of stock for buyers to absorb, and the price fell the most in nearly five years.
