Thursday newspaper round-up: Post Office, Boeing, Darktrace
Pressure is mounting on the government to review more than £2bn in new contracts awarded to Fujitsu since a court ruling in 2019 found its Horizon IT system caused accounting errors that were blamed on more than 900 post office operators who were then wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office. The Japanese company, which continues to hold the prestigious status of being a key “strategic supplier” making more than £100m annually from government work despite the scandal, has won 101 new contracts worth £2.04bn since the landmark legal ruling. – Guardian
The US transportation secretary announced on Wednesday afternoon that no grounded Boeing 737 Max 9 would return to service “until it is safe”, after Alaska Airlines announced the cancellation of all flights on its 737 Max 9 planes at the direction of the Federal Aviation Administration. Pete Buttigieg said he was “not putting a timeline” on when the FAA will allow the planes to resume flights. – Guardian
Funds that allow Bitcoin to be traded more easily have been approved for the first time by Wall Street’s regulator in a hotly anticipated move. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Wednesday evening that it had authorised the trading of a number of Bitcoin exchange traded funds, while refusing to endorse them as a good investment. – Telegraph
Poppy Gustafsson, the boss of Darktrace, looks set to face fresh questions about more than 100 deals she was involved with while working in the accounts department at Autonomy, as she is drawn into the US criminal trial of Mike Lynch, the Cambridge technology entrepreneur. The deals include multimillion-dollar transactions with household names including JP Morgan, BP, Deutsche Bank and Tottenham Hotspur FC in a far more extensive list put forward by the prosecution than the 21 deals originally outlined last October. – The Times
The boss of a company that helps to fund charities has attacked a legal system that allows Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou to bring endless “bullying” lawsuits. James Moir, the chief executive of easyfundraising, said his business had been served with a “ludicrous” High Court claim from the billionaire easyJet founder over the use of the “easy” name, which he said could cost “towards £1 million” to fight. – The Times