EMEA Daily: Meta to Sell Giphy Following CMA Ruling

Today in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the U.K’s Competition and Markets authority announced that Meta is set to sell Giphy following the authority’s antitrust ruling. Meanwhile, Wise upgraded its outlook for 2022 against a backdrop of increased transaction fees for customers.

Wise Hike Transfer Fees, Upgrades 2022 Outlook

Wise, the U.K.-based cross-border money transfer business, has increased the average cost of transactions for the first time since 2020.

As reported in the Financial Times on Tuesday (Oct. 18), the average cost per transaction increased by 2 basis points to 0.64% in the third quarter of 2022, compared with a year earlier.

Citing “extreme macroeconomic conditions,” Wise CEO Kristo Käärmann said that “unfortunately this meant we had to raise prices slightly for some customers, we’ve been working hard to limit these increases and are working to bring them back down again.”

The update also highlighted Wise’s strong performance with the company upgrading its outlook for 2022 in light of revenue and user growth.

FCA Enforcement Chief to Step Down

The U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Tuesday (Oct. 18) announced that Mark Steward will be stepping down as the regulator’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight in the spring of next year.

In his seven years with the FCA, Steward oversaw a number of high-profile enforcement cases and helped to shape the regulator’s current approach to consumer protection.

The FCA said today that the global search for Steward’s successor will begin shortly.

Meta Will Jettison Giphy Following CMA Ruling

Meta Platforms says it will sell the GIF generator Giphy following an order from the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

According to a CMA statement released today, the authority “has found that Meta’s takeover of Giphy could allow Meta to limit other social media platforms’ access to GIFs, making those sites less attractive to users and less competitive.”

The authority also found that the $400 million deal took Giphy out of the running as a potential challenger in the British display advertising market, which would keep U.K. businesses from benefiting from innovation in that sector.

Meta says it will accept the CMA ruling as final and work with the authority on divesting Giphy.

Pound Rebounds on New UK Chancellor’s First Day but Import-Export Challenges Remain

In the first two days of the week, the U.K.’s new Chancellor has been well received by currency markets, with the pound rallying against the euro and the dollar.

The new treasury chief is expected to work closely with the Bank of England to bring inflation under control and introduce a degree of stability that is essential for U.K. consumers to be able to spend confidently.

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