Business

Adobe says it has abandoned its $20bn (£15.8bn) merger with designer platform Figma amid opposition from European regulators. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had revealed earlier in the day that Adobe, best-known for its Photoshop editing software, would not propose remedies to resolve its concerns over the buyout. The watchdog’s European Union counterpart
NatWest says an external review has found no evidence of political or other such discrimination in the closure of customer accounts at its Coutts arm, amid the Nigel Farage debanking row. The bank, which commissioned the law firm Travers Smith to investigate the affair, said 84 customer account closures – including all relevant PEP (politically
The UK economy took a surprise tumble in October, according to an early official estimate that showed a contraction of 0.3%. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that output in all three main divisions – services, manufacturing and construction – was in negative territory. Economists had expected a flat performance, following on from the
Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar partnership with ChatGPT maker OpenAI could face investigation by the UK’s competition regulator. The tech giant is a major investor and strengthened ties following the chatbot’s wildly successful launch in November 2022, committing another $10bn (£7.9bn) earlier this year. It is reported to own a 49% stake in the company, which is at