Category: 3. Business

Introduction

Acute Generalized Exanthematous Pustulosis (AGEP) is a rare but severe dermatologic condition, typically characterized by the sudden onset of widespread sterile pustules on an erythematous and edematous base. Most AGEP cases are drug-induced hypersensitivity reactions, although infections and other immune-related causes have also been reported.¹ Clinically, AGEP presents with rapidly developing pustular eruptions, often within 24–48 hours, accompanied by fever, pruritus, and systemic discomfort. In severe cases, disease progression may lead to skin desquamation, multi-organ involvement, and serious complications, with mortality reported in a minority of patients.^2,3

The risk factors for drug-induced AGEP are multifactorial, including drug class, dosage, duration of exposure, prior sensitization, and individual immunologic susceptibility. Antibiotics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most frequently implicated agents, yet the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood.⁴ A systematic investigation into pharmacologic triggers and clinical risk factors is therefore warranted to support improved recognition and management.

The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) provides a large-scale pharmacovigilance platform with detailed reports on drug exposure, dosing, concomitant therapies, and clinical outcomes. Leveraging this resource allows the identification of safety signals and the evaluation of drug-specific risks associated with rare but serious adverse events such as AGEP.⁵

Accordingly, this study analyzed FAERS data from 2004 to 2024 to characterize drug-related risk factors for AGEP. We focused on implicated drug categories, patterns of use, and potential interactions associated with disease onset. The findings are expected to provide useful evidence for drug safety monitoring and to facilitate early identification of patients at risk.

Materials and Methods

Data Source and Collection

This real-world, retrospective pharmacovigilance study was conducted using data from the FAERS, covering the period from the first quarter of 2004 to the fourth quarter of 2024. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) related to AGEP were identified using the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) terminology, specifically by selecting the preferred term “Acute Generalized Exanthematous Pustulosis.”

The data were retrieved from the FAERS Public Dashboard, a web-based interface that allows users to access adverse event reports submitted by pharmaceutical companies, healthcare professionals, and consumers. Each report contains multiple variables, including the suspected drug’s active ingredient, indication for use, severity of the adverse reaction, date of event onset, patient demographics (eg, age, sex, weight), type and source of the reporter, concomitant medications, geographic location, and any associated literature references. In each report, drugs are assigned different roles in relation to the adverse event (eg, primary suspect, secondary suspect, concomitant, or interacting drug). For this analysis, only cases where the drug was designated as the “primary suspect” for AGEP were included.

Disproportionality analysis was performed using the Reporting Odds Ratio (ROR) and its corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) to evaluate the strength of association between suspected drugs and AGEP (Tables 1 and 2). Drugs known to be used for the treatment of AGEP were excluded. A potential safety signal was considered present if the lower bound of the 95% CI for the ROR exceeded 1 and the upper bound was greater than 3.⁵

Table 1 Four Fold Table for Measures of disproportionality5

Table 2 Formulas and Threshold Values of ROR5

P-adjust refers to the p-value after Fisher’s exact test and Bonferroni correction. A volcano plot was generated, with -log(p-adjust) on the x-axis and logROR on the y-axis.

Regression Analysis

Patient-level data including sex, age, and body weight were extracted from FAERS reports. Only reports with complete information were included in the analysis. Records with implausible values—defined as age over 120 years or body weight exceeding 400 kg—were excluded.

Univariate analysis was conducted for all suspected drugs. A drug was considered significant if it met the following criteria: a lower bound of the 95% confidence interval (CI) for the reporting odds ratio (ROR) greater than 1, ROR > 100, and an adjusted p-value (p-adjust) < 0.01. Drugs meeting these thresholds were then included in a Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression model for feature selection. Variables selected by the LASSO model, along with relevant patient characteristics, were subsequently included in a multivariate logistic regression to identify potential risk factors associated with drug-induced AGEP.

Results

Baseline Characteristics of TEN

Baseline characteristics of drug-associated AGEP cases are summarized in Table 3 and Figure 1. Between the first quarter of 2004 and the fourth quarter of 2024, a total of 18,214,476 adverse events (AEs) were reported in the FAERS database, among which 6,880 cases were identified as AGEP. Of these, 3,750 cases (54.5%) involved female patients, 2,471 cases (35.9%) involved male patients, and 659 reports (9.6%) lacked gender information. The median age of AGEP patients was 59 years, and the median body weight was 83 kg. Notably, 39.2% (n = 2,699) of reports were submitted by healthcare professionals. France, the United States, and Spain contributed the highest number of AGEP case reports, with 1,977, 1,222, and 326 cases, respectively.

Table 3 Patient Demographics

Figure 1 Overview of reports related to drug-induced AGEP.YEAR: Number of AGEP reports submitted each year.AGE: Distribution of AGEP reports by patient age group.OUTCOME: Clinical outcomes reported in AGEP-related adverse events, Case outcomes were categorized as death (DE), life-threatening (LT), hospitalization (HO), disability (DS), congenital anomaly (CA), required intervention to prevent permanent impairment/damage (RI), and other outcomes (OT).

Drugs Associated with AGEP

A volcano plot was generated to visualize the association between suspected drugs and AGEP (Figure 2). In this plot, the x-axis represents the logarithmic values of the reporting odds ratio (logROR), where a positive x–value indicates that adverse events associated with a given drug are reported more frequently in AGEP cases than in other adverse events. The y-axis represents the negative logarithm of the Bonferroni-adjusted p-value obtained from Fisher’s exact test, with higher values indicating stronger statistical significance. The color of each point reflects the logarithm of the number of case reports, with redder shades indicating a larger number of reports. Therefore, drugs located in the upper right quadrant of the plot are considered to have both strong association signals and high reporting frequency.

Figure 2 Volcano Plot of Drugs Associated with AGEP; ROR, reporting odds ratio; P-adjust, p-value after Bonferroni correction.

A total of 148 drugs were found to be significantly associated with AGEP (see Supplementary Table S1). The top 10 drug classes included: antibiotics (44/148), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs; 10/148), antifungals (6/148), antineoplastic agents (6/148), antiepileptics (5/148), calcium channel blockers (5/148), antituberculosis agents (4/148), contrast agents (4/148), glucocorticoids (4/148), and proton pump inhibitors (4/148).

Risk Factors for Drug-Associated AGEP

We performed univariate analysis on suspected drugs that met the following criteria: more than 100 reported AGEP cases, ROR > 1, and both the lower bound of the 95% confidence interval and the Bonferroni-adjusted p-value < 0.01. Drugs that met these thresholds were subsequently included in the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression model. Seventeen drugs were identified by LASSO (Figure 3) and further analyzed using multivariate logistic regression, incorporating relevant patient characteristics (Table 4).The results indicated that 17 drugs—including pantoprazole, omeprazole, terbinafine, metronidazole, ceftriaxone, and vancomycin—were significantly associated with an increased risk of AGEP. The predictive performance of the final model was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.69 (Figure 4), indicating moderate discriminatory ability.

Table 4 Results of Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis

Figure 3 Results of LASSO Regression Analysis,The plot shows the coefficient profiles of 17 drug variables across log(λ) values and the ten-fold cross-validation curve for λ selection using AUC as the metric, with dotted lines indicating the optimal λ values.

Figure 4 ROC Curve for Drug-Induced AP Risk Factors;The red line represents the ROC curve for predicting the outcome, and the gray diagonal line indicates the reference line of no discrimination. The AUC was 0.690, suggesting fair discriminative ability.

The 17 identified risk drugs could be categorized into the following classes: antibiotics (7/17), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs; 2/17), antiviral agents (3/17), proton pump inhibitors (2/17), calcium channel blockers (1/17), antifungal agents (1/17), and other (1/17).

Discussion

AGEP is an acute, drug-associated cutaneous reaction characterized by the sudden onset of fever, widespread non-follicular pustular eruptions, and systemic symptoms. While its exact pathogenesis remains incompletely understood, AGEP is believed to involve drug-induced immune activation, primarily through T cell–mediated pathways that drive neutrophilic infiltration in the epidermis.⁶ Clinically, diagnosis relies on the hallmark skin manifestations, patient history, and histopathological confirmation. The cornerstone of management is immediate discontinuation of the culprit drug, along with symptomatic and supportive care. Although most patients recover, a subset may experience severe complications, including exfoliative dermatitis, sepsis, or multi-organ involvement, resulting in poor prognosis and mortality rates reported as high as 30%–40%.⁷

Previous reports have implicated various antibiotics, antiviral agents, and other commonly prescribed drugs in AGEP, but the strength of these associations has often been limited by small sample sizes or potential confounding. False-positive signals remain a concern.⁸ Therefore, large-scale pharmacovigilance studies are warranted to identify credible drug-related risk factors for AGEP.

In this study, we leveraged real-world data from the FAERS database to systematically analyze AGEP-related adverse event reports from 2004 to 2024. A total of 6,880 cases were identified. The majority of patients were female (54.5%) and the median age was 59 years, suggesting that AGEP predominantly affects middle-aged and older adults—a finding consistent with prior literature. This may be due to increased polypharmacy and age-related decline in immune tolerance.⁹ The highest number of reports originated from France, the United States, and Spain, reflecting greater pharmacovigilance activity in these regions.

Using disproportionality analysis and multivariate regression, we identified 148 drugs with significant AGEP signals, and further narrowed this list to 17 high-risk agents, spanning multiple therapeutic classes—antibiotics, NSAIDs, antivirals, proton pump inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, and antifungals.

Among the antibiotics, ceftriaxone had the highest odds ratio (OR = 49.87), highlighting its strong association with AGEP. As a third-generation cephalosporin, ceftriaxone contains a β-lactam ring that may act as a hapten, binding to host proteins and triggering IgE-mediated immediate reactions or T cell–mediated delayed hypersensitivity. Patch testing studies have shown high positivity rates for ceftriaxone among β-lactams, supporting its sensitizing potential.¹⁰ Clinical reports from Turkey and elsewhere have described rapid AGEP onset after ceftriaxone initiation, with symptoms resolving upon discontinuation.¹¹

Metronidazole, a nitroimidazole antibiotic, may induce AGEP via aberrant immune activation. It has been shown to stimulate drug-specific CD4⁺ T cells and enhance neutrophil chemotaxis through IL-8 and GM-CSF secretion, contributing to pustule formation.^12,13 Vancomycin is another well-documented trigger, and recent single-cell immunopathology studies suggest it induces a mixed immune response, including TH17-like effectors, indicating possible therapeutic targets for severe or relapsing cases.^14,15

Amoxicillin and amoxicillin-clavulanate have also been frequently reported. Delayed-type T cell responses to the shared β-lactam ring structure are considered the likely mechanism, and cross-reactivity with other penicillin-class antibiotics has been demonstrated via patch testing.^16,17 Clindamycin is another well-established culprit, with a median symptom resolution time of 9 days after drug withdrawal and supportive care.^18,19 Although ciprofloxacin–related AGEP is rare, its potential mechanism may involve phototoxic metabolites generating free radicals under UV exposure, leading to keratinocyte damage and inflammation.^20,21

Hydroxychloroquine, commonly prescribed for autoimmune diseases, has been implicated in the development of AGEP through mechanisms that may involve enhanced antigen presentation and subsequent T cell sensitization.^22–24 Of particular note, a case reported by Xi’an Jiaotong University Hospital described the successful management of hydroxychloroquine-induced AGEP using secukinumab, an IL-17 pathway inhibitor, highlighting the potential role of IL-17 signaling in the pathogenesis and treatment of this condition.²⁵

Among antiviral agents, levetiracetam, valaciclovir, and aciclovir were identified as risk drugs. Though rare, levetiracetam–related AGEP has been reported, especially when combined with other antiepileptics like valproate.²⁶ Aciclovir and valaciclovir, used for herpesvirus infections, have been implicated in multiple AGEP cases, with rapid resolution post-withdrawal.^27,28

Despite the perceived safety of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), both pantoprazole and omeprazole were strongly associated with AGEP in this study. Case reports document typical features including pustular eruptions, fever, and leukocytosis, resolving upon discontinuation.^29,30

Among NSAIDs, both ibuprofen and paracetamol were identified. While generally well-tolerated, ibuprofen has been shown to cause AGEP in rare cases.³¹ Though paracetamol is often considered to have low allergenic potential, there are reports of AGEP even in children, with eosinophilia and neutrophilic pustules.³²

In addition, terbinafine, a systemic antifungal, was associated with AGEP, possibly due to its intracellular accumulation in keratinocytes and subsequent T cell–mediated cytotoxicity.^33,34 One case demonstrated progression despite corticosteroids and eventual improvement with adalimumab therapy.³⁵ Lastly, diltiazem, a calcium channel blocker used for hypertension and arrhythmia, has also been reported to cause AGEP with rapid onset and resolution following corticosteroid treatment.³⁶

Study Strengths and Limitations

This study leveraged a large-scale real-world dataset from the FAERS spanning two decades (2004–2024), providing a comprehensive and representative overview of drug-induced AGEP in clinical practice. The robustness and external validity of the findings are supported by the breadth of data and diversity of reporting sources across countries. By integrating multiple statistical methods—including reporting odds ratios, univariate analysis, LASSO regression, and multivariate logistic regression—the study effectively combined signal detection, variable selection, and risk quantification. These complementary approaches enabled us to systematically identify and validate key drug-related risk factors for AGEP. A total of 148 drugs with significant associations were screened, with 17 identified as risk factors, providing clinicians with practical insights for risk-aware prescribing and targeted monitoring.

Despite these strengths, several limitations should be acknowledged. First, the FAERS database is based on spontaneous and voluntary reporting, which may introduce underreporting or selective reporting biases. Second, the completeness and granularity of clinical data in FAERS are often limited; missing values for variables such as age, body weight, and comorbidities could affect the precision and interpretability of the analysis. Third, although multivariate logistic regression was used to control for confounding, residual confounding from unmeasured variables cannot be fully excluded. It is also important to note that disproportionality analysis and FAERS data, by nature, do not allow for the establishment of causality or the estimation of incidence rates.

Conclusion

This study utilized real-world data from the FAERS database between 2004 and 2024 to systematically evaluate potential risk factors for drug-induced AGEP. A range of commonly prescribed medications—including antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antiviral agents, proton pump inhibitors, calcium channel blockers, and antifungal drugs—were found to be significantly associated with AGEP. Notably, ceftriaxone, pantoprazole, hydroxychloroquine, and vancomycin exhibited particularly high odds ratios, underscoring the need for heightened pharmacovigilance and risk assessment during their clinical use. Furthermore, the observation that AGEP was more frequent in younger and middle-aged adults suggests a possible age-related component in disease susceptibility.

Although this study employed large-scale signal detection and multivariate modeling to enhance the robustness of its findings, several limitations remain. These include the passive nature of FAERS reporting, missing clinical data, and the inability to infer causality from spontaneous reports. Therefore, future research should integrate prospective clinical studies and mechanistic investigations to elucidate the immunological basis and individual susceptibility to AGEP. Such efforts will be essential for advancing early recognition, targeted prevention, and safe prescribing practices in clinical pharmacology and dermatovigilance.

Data Sharing Statement

The dataset generated and analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request: Wanchun Wang or Xiaojian Li.

Ethical Approval

In accordance with Article 32 of the Measures for Ethical Review of Life Science and Medical Research Involving Human Beings issued by the National Science and Technology Ethics Committee of the People’s Republic of China, this study was exempted from ethical review because the data analyzed pose no harm to human participants, do not involve sensitive personal information or commercial interests, and were obtained from open and legally accessible databases.

Acknowledgment

The authors affirm that they have no commercial or financial affiliations that could be perceived as potential conflicts of interest. This includes any relationships or financial interests that could influence or bias the study’s results and conclusions.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that is in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Funding

This research was funded by the Technology Innovation Team of Jiangxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CXTD220090), National Natural Science Foundation of China Regional Projects (No. 81960874, 82260935, 82260937), Jiangxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation Key Projects (NO. 20202ACB206010).

Disclosure

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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Factors weighing on the food supply chain include not producing enough calories to feed people, not enough land available to cultivate crops, greenhouse gas emissions from food production, lost biodiversity integral to agriculture, and a water shortage for agricultural use, according to Sunny Verghese, CEO of food and ag company Olam Group.

“We need about $4.5 trillion of investment in finding the next breakthroughs to find a sustainable food future,” Verghese said at the Fortune Global Forum in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. “We are not, in this point in time, making that investment.”

Ertharin Cousin, a former U.S. food and agriculture ambassador to the United Nations, thinks enough calories are being produced but said the problem is not enough nutritious calories are out there at the right price.

“There are 2.4 billion people today who can’t afford a diverse and nutritious diet because we don’t grow what is required to support the diet diversity to meet human health as well as to meet the environmental challenges of the food system of today,” she told Fortune’s Matt Heimer.

Despite their warnings, data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that food insecurity will improve this year. 

Its annual Global Food Assessment says per-capita income in 83 low- and middle-income countries will grow by 3.7% this year, while food price inflation in most of the monitored countries is expected to ease.

This means the number of food-insecure people this year is projected to drop by about 221 million people to 604 million people, or 13.5% of the world’s population.

But experts are still concerned about building a sustainable food supply chain for the future.

Verghese estimated the world requires 593 million hectares of land—which is equivalent to twice the size of India—every year for crop cultivation at current productivity growth rates to meet that challenge. 

Cousin, who is CEO of FSF Ventures, a nonprofit focused on sustainable food business models, believes investments like AI will help spur productivity in land already used for cultivation. 

The new tech, when paired with other innovations like biological tools and energy advancements to support production growth, will help create a “diversity of solutions” required to combat the world’s food shortage, she added. These are the investment opportunities Cousin’s organization is seeking.

“We have the responsibility of identifying the investment capital that is necessary to support the multi-sectoral investments that are required from farm to consumer that will change the food system in a way to make it more productive and make that food more affordable and available,” Cousin said.

October 28, 2025

NTT DATA Group Corporation

• White paper shows how AI can help solve the environmental challenges it creates
• Resource efficiency should be designed into systems from the start
• Sustainable AI requires lifecycle thinking and circular-economy principles

TOKYO and LONDON – October 28, 2025 – A new white paper from NTT DATA, a global leader in AI, digital business and technology services, highlights the urgent need to embed sustainability into every layer of AI development and deployment to counteract the technology’s environmental impact. Deploying innovative solutions for sustainable AI is a corporate responsibility and a strategic opportunity to create lasting value, build organizational strength and consume fewer essential resources.

The new paper, Sustainable AI for a Greener Tomorrow, illustrates the growing environmental impact of AI and outlines a path to sustainable innovation. The technology requires enormous volumes of electricity to support surging computational demands to train large language models, run inference pipelines and maintain always-on services. Researchers predict AI workloads will drive more than 50% of data center power consumption by 2028. Other primary environmental impacts include water consumption for data center cooling systems, e-waste and rare earth mineral extraction for hardware production.

“The resource consequences of AI’s rapid growth and adoption are daunting, but the technology also can empower innovative solutions to the environmental problems it creates,” said David Costa, Head of Sustainability Innovation Headquarters, NTT DATA. “AI’s amazing capabilities can help manage energy grids more efficiently, reduce overall emissions, model environmental risks and improve water conservation. It’s vital for organizations to recognize the challenge and build sustainability into AI systems from the start.”

Key Insights

• Expand From Performance to Green Priorities: NTT DATA’s AI experts and sustainability consultants urge the use of holistic sustainability goals, not just conventional AI performance metrics such as accuracy and speed. Efficiency must be prioritized, not as a trade-off, but as a core design principle.
• Quantify Environmental Impact: AI’s energy consumption, carbon emissions and water footprint need standard and verifiable metrics. Industry benchmarks such as the “AI Energy Score” and “Software Carbon Intensity (SCI) for AI” offer ways to embed sustainability into governance, procurement and compliance protocols.
• Lifecycle-Centric Approach: Sustainable AI requires lifecycle thinking, from raw material extraction and hardware production to system deployment and ultimate disposal. Important steps include lengthening hardware lifespans, optimizing cooling systems and applying circular-economy principles.
• Shared Accountability Across the Ecosystem: Responsibility is widely distributed, encompassing hardware manufacturers, data center operators, software developers, cloud providers, policymakers, investors and consumers. Cross-sector cooperation is essential for systemic change.

Barriers and Best Practices

Today, fragmented assessments and inconsistent metrics frequently prevent meaningful benchmarking. Many organizations focus narrowly on energy or emissions without considering water usage, rare material depletion and e-waste. These and other factors must be addressed comprehensively. Even when environmental goals are set, organizations often lack actionable methods to apply sustainability at every stage of the AI lifecycle.

To address these and other concerns, the report outlines numerous best practices, including:

• Applying green software engineering patterns to reduce resource consumption
• Running AI workloads in locations and at times that align with renewable energy availability
• Leveraging remote GPU Services and on-premises AI
• Reducing e-waste by prioritizing modular and upgradable components, and extending hardware lifespans through refurbishment, reuse and responsible recycling

While the road to sustainable AI is complex, an intentional, end-to-end redesign of the AI lifecycle can help fulfill this technology’s positive potential while protecting the environmental systems on which all living things depend.

To help accelerate the transition towards a sustainable future, please visit our website to download the whitepaper and learn more about NTT DATA’s sustainability services.

About NTT DATA

NTT DATA is a $30+ billion business and technology services leader, serving 75% of the Fortune Global 100. We are committed to accelerating client success and positively impacting society through responsible innovation. We are one of the world’s leading AI and digital infrastructure providers, with unmatched capabilities in enterprise-scale AI, cloud, security, connectivity, data centers and application services. Our consulting and industry solutions help organizations and society move confidently and sustainably into the digital future. As a Global Top Employer, we have experts in more than 70 countries. We also offer clients access to a robust ecosystem of innovation centers as well as established and start-up partners. NTT DATA is part of NTT Group, which invests over $3 billion each year in R&D.
Visit us at nttdata.com

CVC, one of the world’s leading private markets investment firms, today announced the signing of a binding agreement to sell a majority of CVC Capital Partners VII’s stake in Tipico Group (“Tipico”), the leading sports betting and online gaming operator in Germany and Austria, to Banijay Group (“Banijay”). The transaction will see Tipico combine with Betclic, establishing a new European champion in sports betting and online gaming under the Banijay Gaming umbrella.

The combination will unite two local champions, Betclic and Tipico, each with strong local roots and complementary strengths across Germany, Austria, France, Portugal, Poland, and Côte d’Ivoire. While Betclic and Tipico share an entrepreneurial mindset and strong cultural alignment, they will continue to operate with their own governance and autonomous management teams and will preserve their unique brands and their proprietary platforms.

CVC will remain invested as a minority shareholder alongside Banijay Group as well as Tipico’s and Betclic’s founders, reflecting a strong partnership and full alignment on future value creation.

Daniel Pindur, Managing Partner at CVC Capital Partners and Co-Head of CVC DACH, said: “Since our investment in Tipico, we have worked closely with its founders and management to transform the company into the leading sports betting and gaming operator in the DACH region, with scale, innovation and a strong position in regulated markets. The combination with Betclic is the natural next step in this growth story, uniting two market leaders with complementary strengths to create a European champion. We are proud of what has been achieved together and look forward to supporting the new group as it enters its next phase.”

The proposed transaction is subject to customary conditions precedent, in particular merger control and gambling regulations approvals, and is expected to close by mid-2026.

The full transaction announcement can be viewed here.

The Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren is calling for an investigation into bankers including Jes Staley over their alleged support for the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in a move that could leave the former Barclays boss banned from working in the US financial sector.

In a letter privately filed with regulators, and seen by the Guardian, Warren called for investigations into “all current and former US banking executives who may have facilitated Jeffrey Epstein’s illicit conduct”.

That includes Staley, who Warren said is alleged to have helped protect the late financier’s access to the banking system during his stint working at JP Morgan in the early 2000s. Warren noted that Staley – who is already banned from the UK banking sector – had been described in media reports as Epstein’s “chief defender”.

Warren, the lead Democrat on the US Senate committee on banking, housing and urban affairs, said she was concerned to hear that Staley pushed back when colleagues flagged Epstein’s suspicious transactions, referring to a matter that was put to him in court proceedings earlier this year. Staley denied the allegations at the time, saying “I don’t think that’s fair” and that the decision to exit a client such as Epstein was not his to make.

Warren also referred to court evidence suggesting Staley tipped Epstein off about JP Morgan’s worries in a way that allowed the sex trafficker to alter his behaviour and avoid scrutiny. Staley told the court that he “was not part of managing the account” but did not deny that he told Epstein there were concerns about cash withdrawals.

During his 15-year relationship with JP Morgan, Epstein opened at least 134 accounts, processed over $1bn in transactions, and brought in several lucrative clients, Warren’s letter said.

And while JP Morgan had so far paid $290m (£217m) in settlements to Epstein’s victims, “Staley has so far avoided accountability in the United States,” the senator said.

Warren has now called on the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to publicly announce the launch of an investigation into former and current banking executives who may have aided Epstein, by 7 November.

She also asked for private confirmation that an investigation had been opened specifically into Staley’s conduct by 14 November. Wrongdoing could ultimately result in a fine and a potential ban from working in the US banking sector.

“It is critical to send a message to the public and current bank employees that this type of egregious misconduct has no place in the American banking system,” Warren’s letter said.

It would be another bruising development for Staley, who in June lost a legal attempt to overturn his lifetime ban from the UK financial sector imposed by UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2023, after he was found to have misled the watchdog over his relationship with the sex offender.

The FCA’s original investigation, triggered by a cache of more than 1,200 emails between Staley and Epstein, concluded that the pair were “indeed close” and had a relationship that “went beyond one that was professional in nature”.

Warren also called for investigations into other top executives that may have supported the late financier’s crimes. “Staley is not the only bank executive with concerning ties to Epstein. For example, according to Staley’s sworn deposition, he discussed Epstein with CEO Jamie Dimon on at least two occasions,” the letter stated.

Dimon has previously denied Staley’s claim and stated that he does not recall knowing anything about Epstein until years after the firm effectively severed ties with the sex offender. JP Morgan declined to comment.

“The Fed, OCC and FDIC should investigate any other current or former banking executives who engaged in similar conduct to determine whether their conduct satisfies the legal standards for a ban on working in the banking industry and civil monetary penalties,” Warren said.

“Any banking executives who facilitated the crimes of one of the world’s most notorious sex criminals should be held to account,” Warren’s letter added.

Donald Trump has come under fire for his own social ties to the sex offender, who was a longtime friend until they fell out in 2004. The president made releasing the Epstein investigative files part of his campaign platform, but has failed to do so. He has referred to the furore over the files as a Democratic “hoax”.

The news of Warren’s letter came as two new lawsuits were filed by an anonymous plaintiff against Bank of America and the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), alleging that banks illicitly enabled Epstein’s sex trafficking. BNY has said the claims “are meritless and we will vigorously defend against it”. Bank of America echoed those comments, saying: “We will vigorously defend ourselves in this matter.”

The Guardian contacted Staley’s legal representative for comment.

In June, after the loss of his legal challenge against the FCA, Staley said he was “disappointed” by the outcome but was “never dishonest”.

(Bloomberg) — Global equities paused their record-breaking rally as investors braced for a flurry of earnings from megacap technology companies and policy announcements from major central banks this week.

Asian shares fell 0.5% and futures pointed to a weaker open for Europe. Japanese shares retreated from a record as the yen gained against the dollar, snapping a seven-session slide. Contracts for the S&P 500 were flat after the gauge closed at a record as Chinese and US trade negotiators lined up an array of diplomatic wins for Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to unveil at a summit this week.

“What we’re hoping is for some agreement with hard numbers,” Lorraine Tan, director of equity research for Asia at Morningstar, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “We’re still going to be skeptical in effect that we do expect heightened risks from tariffs and geopolitics — there is no escape from that.”

Easing trade tensions have helped fuel a stock rally, while US companies have so far emerged largely unscathed by tariffs, protecting margins through price increases and cost cuts. That optimism faces a reality check this week as investors look to the Federal Reserve meeting for clues on the path of rate cuts, while major technology firms including Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. reveal whether the earnings momentum can be sustained.

Meanwhile, the yen gained against the dollar after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and newly appointed Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama discussed exchange rate volatility.

The yen outperformed its Group-of-10 peers, as markets welcomed supportive remarks from Japanese officials and cheered the outcome of a high-profile meeting between US and Japanese leaders in Tokyo. The currency gained also as Japan’s minister for growth strategy Minoru Kiuchi said authorities will keep monitoring the impact of yen weakness on the economy.

What Bloomberg strategists say…

FX traders are reading it to be a reminder that the US administration would prefer a softer dollar. However, the Bank of Japan still needs to do their part this week and set up a rate hike for December. Otherwise USD/JPY could flip back to the 153 area, or higher.

— Mark Cranfield, Markets Live strategist. Click here for the full analysis.

In other corners of the market, the yuan climbed to its strongest level in nearly a year, amid optimism over a potential China-US trade deal. A gauge of the dollar edged lower for a second day. Gold held below $4,000 an ounce as progress in trade talks sapped demand for haven assets.

On Wednesday and Thursday, five firms that account for about a quarter of the US benchmark — Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.com and Apple Inc. — will report results. A gauge of the “Magnificent Seven” megacaps jumped 2.6% on Monday.

“With the Fed on track to cut rates, extending the run would appear to hinge on this week’s lineup of high-profile earnings releases,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.

Copper — a bellwether for global growth — advanced and traded roughly $60 shy of a record set last year as investors assessed the cooling of trade tensions between the US and China.

On trade, Trump told reporters on Monday that “I really feel good” about a deal with China, after officials unveiled a slew of agreements to ease tensions.

While markets cheered the latest developments, some analysts cautioned the deal now teed up for Trump and Xi to sign in South Korea ignored thorny issues.

Fundamental fights over national security appeared untouched, they said, along with Trump’s stated core mission of rebalancing trade. Making that harder, Chinese investment into America remains heavily restricted.

“While these developments have lifted market spirits, analysts remain skeptical that the underlying issues — such as national security and tech competition — will be fully resolved,” said Fawad Razaqzada at City Index and Forex.com. “Nevertheless, traders have embraced the risk-on mood.”

Meanwhile, Trump hailed the US’s alliance with Japan, reaffirming ties with a longstanding partner and praising new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on her plans to ratchet up defense spending as the pair met in Tokyo. Trump and Takaichi signed a framework on critical minerals.

Corporate News:

Amazon.com Inc. to cut corporate jobs in several key departments, including logistics, payments, video games and the cloud-computing unit, according to people familiar with the matter. The terminations, expected as soon as Tuesday, could affect as many as 30,000 jobs, Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources. HSBC Holdings Ltd. reported third-quarter revenue that beat estimates, driven by its key wealth businesses, even as a $1.1 billion provision tied to the Bernard Madoff fraud cases weighed on earnings. BNP Paribas SA’s trading unit suffered a hit from souring debt in the third quarter, adding to challenges for Chief Executive Officer Jean-Laurent Bonnafe after a string of recent setbacks. Novartis AG’s profit rose last quarter, buoyed by a suite of new cancer medicines. Amundi SA reported adjusted pretax income for the third quarter that beat analysts’ estimates as the French asset manager prepares to unveil its new three-year strategic plan next month. Nvidia Corp. and Deutsche Telekom AG are preparing to announce plans for a €1 billion data center in Germany. BlackLine Inc. has attracted takeover interest from suitors including SAP SE, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s profit beat analysts’ expectations last quarter, buoyed by equity trading and advising on mergers. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 6:50 a.m. London time Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.5% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.5% The Shanghai Composite fell 0.3% Euro Stoxx 50 futures fell 0.1% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.1% The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1660 The Japanese yen rose 0.6% to 151.95 per dollar The offshore yuan rose 0.2% to 7.0976 per dollar The British pound rose 0.2% to $1.3358 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.4% to $114,056.62 Ether fell 0.6% to $4,104.43 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.97% Japan’s 10-year yield declined 2.5 basis points to 1.640% Australia’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.17% Commodities

Spot gold fell 1% to $3,943.59 an ounce West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.2% to $61.18 a barrel This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Alex Gabriel Simon.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

A charity that helps families struggling with the cost of school clothing has described a donation of uniforms from an airline as “crucial”.

Luton-based EasyJet has partnered with local charity Level Trust (LT), which provides uniforms for 75 schools across the town.

LT’s uniform exchange programme will upcyle used EasyJet uniforms into thousands of new shirts, skirts, blazers and trousers for older students.

A survey of 2,000 parents, commissioned by EasyJet, found 58% of British households are feeling the financial strain of buying school uniforms.

It also found how, on average, they are spending £255 per child on school uniform.

Michael Brown, director of cabin services for EasyJet, said: “Our aim for this first phase is both to support parents who are facing financial hardships as well as reduce our textile waste.”

Jennie White, chief executive officer of LT, added: “We have seen a significant rise in requests for school uniforms, highlighting the challenges many families are facing.

“EasyJet’s donation of surplus uniforms is a crucial step in addressing these needs as this initiative not only helps alleviate the financial strain on parents, but also ensures that children have the necessary attire to feel confident and focused at school.”