WASHINGTON, USA: US President Donald Trump said in an interview aired Sunday he does not object to France and Germany continuing trade with Iran, despite his refusal to certify the Iran nuclear deal.
“I told them just keep making money,” the real estate mogul-turned-president told the Fox News program Sunday Morning Futures. “Don’t worry. We don’t need you on this one.”
“They are friends of mine. They really are. I get along with all of them. Whether it’s Emmanuel or Angela,” Trump said, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with that deal,” Trump said of the landmark 2015 accord, which on October 13 he refused to certify, leaving the pact’s fate to US Congress.
“When they buy those things, it is a little harder,” Trump said of French and German commercial dealings with Iran.
But speaking to journalists on a diplomatic visit to Riyadh, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US is “hoping” European companies and countries “will join the US as we put in place a sanction structure.”
“Those who conduct business with Iranian Revolutionary Guards, any of their entities — European companies or other companies around the globe — really do so at great risk.”
Tillerson had told the Wall Street Journal on Friday the Trump administration does not intend to disrupt European commerce with Iran.
The European Union has meanwhile expressed determination to preserve the Iran deal, with several leaders considering it essential to convincing North Korea to come to the negotiating table over its own nuclear program.
Tillerson meanwhile was seeking to curb Tehran’s influence in talks with his country’s Gulf allies, demanding that Iran pare down its involvement in Iraq as the fight against the Daesh group draws to a close.
Trump tells Paris, Berlin to ‘keep making money’ via trade with Tehran
Trump tells Paris, Berlin to ‘keep making money’ via trade with Tehran
Britain needs ‘AI stress tests’ for financial services, lawmakers say
- Lawmakers urge AI-specific stress tests for financial firms
LONDON: Britain’s financial watchdogs are not doing enough to stop artificial intelligence from harming consumers or destabilising markets, a cross-party group of lawmakers said on Tuesday, urging regulators to move away from what it called a “wait and see” approach.
In a report on AI in financial services, the Treasury Committee said the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England should start running AI-specific stress tests to help firms prepare for market shocks triggered by automated systems.
The committee also called on the FCA to publish detailed guidance by the end of 2026 on how consumer protection rules apply to AI, and on the extent to which senior managers should be expected to understand the systems they oversee.
“Based on the evidence I’ve seen, I do not feel confident that our financial system is prepared if there was a major AI-related incident and that is worrying,” committee chair Meg Hillier said in a statement.
TECHNOLOGY CARRIES ‘SIGNIFICANT RISKS’
A race among banks to adopt agentic AI, which unlike generative AI can make decisions and take autonomous action, runs new risks for retail customers, the FCA told Reuters late last year.
About three-quarters of UK financial firms now use AI. Companies are deploying the technology across core functions, from processing insurance claims to performing credit assessments.
While the report acknowledged the benefits of AI, it warned the technology also carried “significant risks” including opaque credit decisions, the potential exclusion of vulnerable consumers through algorithmic tailoring, fraud, and the spread of unregulated financial advice through AI chatbots.
Experts contributing to the report also highlighted threats to financial stability, pointing to the reliance on a small group of US tech giants for AI and cloud services. Some also noted that AI-driven trading systems may amplify herding behavior in markets, risking a financial crisis in a worst-case scenario.
An FCA spokesperson said the regulator welcomed the focus on AI and would review the report. The regulator has previously indicated it does not favor AI-specific rules due to the pace of technological change.
The BoE did not respond to a request for comment.
Hillier told Reuters that increasingly sophisticated forms of generative AI were influencing financial decisions. “If something has gone wrong in the system, that could have a very big impact on the consumer,” she said.
Separately, Britain’s finance ministry appointed Starling Bank CIO Harriet Rees and Lloyds Banking Group ‘s Rohit Dhawan as “AI Champions” to help steer AI adoption in financial services.
