LONDON—Germany’s antitrust watchdog paved the way Wednesday for extra scrutiny of Google by designating it a company of “paramount significance,” the first to get that label since regulators got more power to curb abusive practices by big digital companies. The Bundeskartellamt said its decision comes after rules were introduced last year that allow it “to…

FRANKFURT—The German financial regulator BaFin on Wednesday said it had fined Deutsche Bank $10 million for controls related to the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR), a setback for the nation’s largest lender as it seeks to restore its reputation. The fine of 8.66 million euros ($9.77 million) is the first imposed by BaFin under a…

The Netherlands’ top competition regulator on Friday said Apple Inc. broke the country’s competition laws and ordered changes to the iPhone maker’s App Store payment policies. Apple’s practice of requiring app developers to use its in-app payment system and pay commissions of 15 percent to 30 percent on digital goods purchases has come under scrutiny…

Canada’s food safety watchdog says it has confirmed cases of high pathogenic Avian Influenza at an exhibition farm in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says in a release Wednesday that the farm on the Avalon Peninsula does not produce birds for sale. The agency says as the birds infected with H5N1 were…

OTTAWA—The federal privacy watchdog is warning Canadians about the growing threat of surveillance capitalism—the use of personal information by large corporations. In his annual report tabled Thursday in Parliament, privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien said state surveillance—a major concern after the 9/11 terrorist attacks—has been reined in somewhat in recent years. Meanwhile, personal data has emerged…

OTTAWA—A new security watchdog report says long-standing, systemic problems hampered co-operation between Canada’s spy service and national police force on the investigation of an extremist threat. The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency points to chronic information-sharing challenges for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP. The review agency looked at how CSIS and…

Billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money have been wasted as the Ministry of Defence continually fails to learn from its mistakes, the Commons spending watchdog has said. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has published a highly critical report accusing the department of having a “broken” system for procuring military equipment. The cross-party committee said it…

A former British Cabinet minister is facing a 30-day suspension from Parliament after a watchdog found he had breached rules on lobbying. Conservative MP Owen Paterson said that the investigation into him was biased, accusing the parliamentary commissioner of making up her mind before speaking to him. The investigation found Paterson repeatedly lobbied ministers and officials…

The Queensland government will probe the state’s independent local government watchdog after growing concerns about its investigations, one of which was recently criticised as being a “storm in a teacup.” Queensland Deputy Premier and Local Government Minister Steven Miles on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the Office of the Independent Assessor (OAI). This comes after…

ZURICH—Switzerland’s financial markets supervisor said on Wednesday it had approved the country’s first fund that invests primarily in crypto assets. The Crypto Market Index Fund is restricted to qualified investors and categorised under “other funds for alternative investments” with particular risks, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) said in a statement. Crypto assets are…