Fremantle’s financials for the first nine months of this year were hit by the loss of America’s Got Talent spin-off Fantasy League, according to the just-published RTL results.
Revenue at the RTL-owned America’s Got Talent and Poor…
Britain’s competition watchdog has begun investigations into eight companies about their online pricing practices, expressing concern over additional fees and sales tactics such as “drip pricing” and “pressure selling”.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was looking into the ticket sellers StubHub and Viagogo; AA Driving School and BSM Driving School; the US gym chain Gold’s Gym; and the retailers Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical.
The investigations are the first launched by the CMA using its new consumer protection powers. The watchdog said it had concerns over practices including drip pricing – when consumers are shown an initial price and then face additional fees in the checkout process – and the use of misleading countdown timers, which are banned under the new regime.
The investigations follow a cross-economy review by the CMA since April of more than 400 businesses in 19 sectors to assess their compliance with price transparency rules.
The watchdog has also written advisory letters to 100 businesses across 14 sectors outlining concerns about their use of additional fees and sales tactics. It is publishing new guidance for businesses to help them comply with the law.
The regulator’s new powers enable it to decide whether consumer laws have been broken, rather than having to go through the courts. If the CMA finds there has been an infringement of the law, it can order businesses to pay compensation to affected customers, and can fine companies up to 10% of global turnover.
“It’s crucial that people are able to shop online with confidence, knowing that the price they see is the price they’ll pay, and any sales are genuine,” said the CMA chief executive, Sarah Cardell.
“Whether you’re spending your hard-earned cash on concert tickets or driving lessons, joining a gym or buying furniture and appliances for your home, you deserve a fair deal. It’s our job to protect consumers from misleading prices and illegal pressure selling and today marks an important milestone.”
The secondary ticketing sites StubHub and Viagogo are under review over the mandatory additional charges applied when consumers buy tickets, and whether or not these fees are included upfront.
The AA Driving School and BSM Driving School are being investigated over whether their mandatory fees are included in the total price the consumer sees at the beginning of the purchase process.
Gold’s Gym is under investigation over not including its one-off joining fee for its annual membership in advertised membership costs.
The homeware retailers Wayfair, Appliances Direct and Marks Electrical are being investigated to determine whether their time-limited sales ended when they said they would, or whether customers were being automatically opted in to purchase additional services.
skip past newsletter promotion
after newsletter promotion
Rocio Concha, the director of policy and advocacy at the consumer group Which?, which has exposed “dodgy business practices”, said: “It’s encouraging that the regulator is taking this action. It shouldn’t hesitate to use its new consumer enforcement powers to fine any firms that have broken the rules.
“This action underlines the value of effective regulation in ensuring unscrupulous firms don’t get unfair advantages over companies that comply with the law.”
The investigation piles further pressure on Viagogo and StubHub. The latter company’s shares fell nearly 14% on Monday after the Guardian revealed that reselling tickets for profit is to be outlawed, as the government goes ahead with a long-awaited crackdown on touts and resale platforms.
AA Driving School said: “We are comfortable that the £3 booking fee for lessons is already transparent and in line with the CMA’s rules.”
Viagogo said: “We have continually engaged constructively with the CMA and will be fully cooperating with their investigation.”
Issuer innovation and regulatory support can help grow sustainable debt in emerging markets, a critical tool to address the multi-trillion-dollar climate financing gap, according to a new BloombergNEF (BNEF) report, Scaling Sustainable Debt in Emerging Markets.
The report, commissioned by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), finds that nearly half of all financing for low-carbon energy companies in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and emerging Asia Pacific (APAC) comes from labeled sustainable debt. These instruments are an important channel of capital to the energy transition and have a strong foundation for growth.
Sustainable debt issuance stagnates in key emerging markets
Labeled sustainable debt issuance across MENA and emerging APAC slowed in 2025, after a record 2024. Issuance globally is down amid shifting perceptions around the benefits of labeling debt instruments – including on price and reporting costs.
Reduced pricing benefits may be holding issuers back. Among the bonds sampled by BNEF, the discounts issuers were receiving for labeling debt in 2020 have faded, with some issuers paying a premium for green issuance.
Despite global headwinds, the sustainable finance market is still dynamic, with issuers experimenting with new structures and regulators exploring policy support. Labeled debt only accounts for 2.6% of the debt market in emerging economies today, highlighting clear growth opportunities.
Regulators can help lower barriers for issuers
As a key tool to drive climate finance in emerging markets, regulators and governments have a variety of solutions available to them to grow the labeled sustainable debt market and to help address climate and sustainability challenges.
Government support to offset labeling costs and provide a clear regulatory environment for labeled issuance can ease challenges when issuers go to market. The Hong Kong government provides a good example, with a scheme providing subsidies for green and social issuers. As of mid-October 2025, subsidies were granted to over 620 sustainable debt instruments worth over $170 billion issued in Hong Kong.
Regulators also can drive the market by providing guidance for issuing labeled debt, ideally encouraging issuers to label. Policy frameworks like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ sustainable finance taxonomy assists issuers in identifying green and transitional activities, which may help drive issuance.
Issuers can innovate beyond conventional labels, tenors and structures
Other avenues for growth include expanding past the green label and typical structures. Social debt represents a deal type with strong growth potential. Social instruments only account for 8% of total issuance since 2020 in these emerging markets. Regional neighbors like South Korea and Japan are among the largest social bond markets globally and could offer experience for success in the wider APAC region.
Similarly, a blue bond from DP World, a UAE-based logistics and marine port operator, highlights the benefits of specificity when applying labels to help attract capital for underserved areas of sustainability, such as marine ecosystem conservation and restoration, and sustainable marine transportation.
A sustainability-linked loan bond (SLLB) from Emirates NBD Bank also shows the added credibility that novel labeling structures can bring. Through robust selection criteria, the structure can help channel financing to the most impactful and robust sustainability-linked loans. The key to its success is transparency around the specific instruments financed by the SLLB.
A green bond and green loan from Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation, a public transportation operator, demonstrated that there is strong investor demand for ultra-long tenors. As the company’s first green ultra-long tenor issuance, the novel 30-year green bond was well received by investors, as the instrument was 5.8 times oversubscribed.
This report is part of the strategic partnership between Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on sustainable finance.
Mark Steward, Chief Executive of the DFSA, said:“This research provides valuable insight into how sustainable debt is evolving across the MENA and emerging APAC regions. The US$94 billion issuance record in 2024 reflects growing investor confidence and the resilience of our markets. Our focus remains on supporting all forms of sustainable and transition finance to ensure that the market within the DIFC, United Arab Emirates, and across the region remains robust and credible for the long term.”
Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the HKMA, said: “Sustainable debt is a promising tool for bridging the multi-trillion-dollar climate financing gap in emerging markets. Through this joint research, we aim to explore solutions to remove the barriers faced by issuers and identify opportunities for growth. As Asia’s leading sustainable finance hub that arranges 45% of the region’s international green bond issuances in 2024, Hong Kong is committed to leveraging our infrastructure and know-how to support emerging markets in reaching their sustainable development goals.”
Jon Moore, Chief Executive of BloombergNEF, said:“Sustainable debt helps build trust and transparency in the financial market. The effort by HKMA and DFSA to drive the development of sustainable debt markets provides valuable support to scale up finance and investment for the energy transition. We hope this report and our industry-leading insights can help regulators and market participants navigate this transition and capture opportunities that advance global sustainability objectives.”
US rapper Eminem has taken legal action against an Australian beachwear company called Swim Shady, saying its name is too similar to his trademarked rap pseudonym Slim Shady.
In September, Eminem – whose real name is Marshall B Mathers III –…
Chadwick’s team-mates from her 2025 season for IDEC were France’s Mathys Jaubert and Spain’s Daniel Juncadella, and both have been selected to race in next year’s hypercar alongside two more experienced drivers, Andre Lotterer and Pipo Derani.
At HUPO 2025, Dr. Leonard Foster, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and director of the Life Sciences Institute at the University of British Columbia (UBC), sat down with Technology Networks to discuss how advances in…
MELBOURNE, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) — Formula One driver Oscar Piastri has received Australian sport’s highest individual honor, winning The Don Award for 2025.
Piastri was named the winner of The Don Award at the annual Sport Australia Hall of…
Getty Images