WHAT’S NEWS

Bloomberg Paywall

Bloomberg is launching a subscription business at $34.99-$39.99 per month. – Bloomberg

Overall, Bloomberg generated $9.83 billion in revenue last year, largely driven by its terminal business. Bloomberg’s media business finished 2017 with about $304 million in revenue, down from its peak of about $335 million in 2012. – WSJ

Subscription hell: How not to do paywalls. – Techcrunch

New Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Rules in the UK

After the UK approved radical new measures to tackle money-laundering and corruption, British overseas territories, including the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, will be forced to lift the veil of secrecy over the ownership of companies based there. – FT

Rising Commodity Costs

Rising commodity costs (including steel, aluminium and lumber) fuelling inflation in the car making and construction industries. – ZeroHedge and Bloomberg

Also in the News:

Closure of Cambridge Analytica

Cambridge Analytica, the firm that has been accused of acquiring data from up to 87 million Facebook profiles for use in political campaigns, closed on Wednesday. The company has an extensive record of working abroad on many election campaigns, including in Italy, Kenya and Nigeria. It has been accused of using the personal data of millions of Facebook users to sway the outcome of the US 2016 presidential election and the UK Brexit referendum. – BBC

After the scandal, no client wanted to do business with Cambridge Analytica anymore.  The company had tried to rebrand and regroup but the shareholders rejected the plan and didn’t want to take on the legal liabilities associated with it. – WSJ

“Over the past several months, Cambridge Analytica has been the subject of numerous unfounded accusations and, despite the company’s efforts to correct the record, has been vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas. Despite Cambridge Analytica’s unwavering confidence that its employees have acted ethically and lawfully… the siege of media coverage has driven away virtually all of the company’s customers and suppliers. As a result, it has been determined that it is no longer viable to continue operating the business.”

(from a statement on the firm’s website)

The closure of Cambridge Analytica will not stop a probe into the firm’s mishandling of millions of people’s data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said its investigation will still “pursue individuals and directors”. – BBC

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