EMEA Daily: Biden Order Aims to Protect US-EU Data Transfers; HSBC Launches Digital Trade Finance Platform

Today in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, President Biden’s latest executive order offers a ray of hope for American tech businesses that rely on transatlantic flows and HSBC launched a new digital platform for trade finance.

Biden Executive Order Aims to Protect US-EU Data Transfers

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order aimed at protecting data transfers between the United States and European Union.

The order, announced today by the White House and U.S. Commerce Department, is designed to end several months of uncertainty faced by countless companies following a European Court ruling that quashed earlier deals over worries about American surveillance.

According to an announcement from the White House, the executive order adds new safeguards for U.S. intelligence activity, “including requiring that such activities be conducted only in pursuit of defined national security objectives” and takes “into consideration the privacy and civil liberties of all persons, regardless of nationality or country of residence.”

Adidas Seeks CEO, Questions Kanye West Deal

As Adidas looks for a new chief executive, experts and analysts are advising the German footwear company to get creative.

“The company needs to get back to the creative edge,” said Cowen analyst John Kernan in a Bloomberg News report on the search for a chief executive officer published today.

Adidas announced in August that its supervisory board and CEO Kasper Rorsted had agreed that Rorsted would step down next year but would remain with the company until a replacement was appointed.

Two names that have been floated as possible replacements include Puma CEO Bjorn Gulden and Eric Liedtke, a former Adidas executive who helped oversee the company’s collaborations with musicians like Beyonce, Pharell Williams and Kanye West.

The West partnership appeared to be in trouble this week, with Adidas saying yesterday it was placing it under review.

HSBC Launches Digital Platform for Trade Finance

HSBC has launched HSBC Trade Solutions (HTS) for customers in its two largest markets, the UK and Hong Kong.

Developed in partnership with the IT consultancy CGI, the new platform allows clients to manage all their trade finance products online.

Designed to digitize HSBC’s trade finance offerings using an API-native, modular tech stack, going forward, the bank says that “HTS will form the backbone of HSBC’s market-leading trade offering – supporting USD800bn of global trade per year.”

The new platform will enable the bank to embrace future change faster and more efficiently.

ECI Software Solutions Acquires ES Tech Group

Cloud business technology company ECI Software Solutions announced the completion of its takeover of ES Tech Group, a U.K.-based B2B eCommerce software and services business.

The acquisition expands ECI’s existing eCommerce solutions portfolio and furthers its investments in the digital economy and eCommerce, the firm stated in a press release.

ES Tech Group has developed an eCommerce platform for markets including industrial, business supplies, electrical, plumbing, gas and welding, medical supplies and more, per the release.