Publication date: March 15, 2023

On 14 March 2023 KIELTYKA GLADKOWSKI took part in the webinar organised by CB Insights devoted to the retail tech 100. The speakers discussed a very interesting report revealing the 100 private retail tech startups that will transform the way consumers shop.

After reviewing thousands of companies, the retail analysts have selected the most promising startups across tech markets, spanning everything from e-commerce infrastructure to digital personalization tech. In the webinar, the analysts and expert guests from Lululemon and XRC Labs discussed:

• the major trends to watch in retail tech, including supply chain optimization, AI-powered merchandising,
• a behind the scenes look at how analysts selected the list.
  The speakers were: Laura Kennedy, Principal Analyst at CB Insights; Pano Anthos, Founder & Managing Director, XRC Labs; Sarah Rogowsky, VP of Digital Strategy and User Experience, Lululemon.
  As for the Retail Tech 100, some of the sectors where the upcoming companies come from are: Merchandise planning & inventory management, Robotic fulfillment, Unattended checkout, E-commerce infrastructure, Supply chain visibility platforms, Digital shopper engagement, Omnichannel payments, Online marketplace tech, Sustainability solutions, Delivery management platforms, Digital content, E-commerce merchandising & discovery, Hourly employee tools & management.

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Publication date: March 10, 2023

KIELTYKA GLADKOWSKI took part in Dow Jones Risk and Compliance webinar devoted to ESG.

The webinar focused on the issues modern slavery in the framework of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) compliance. The aim was to shed a light on modern slavery as a topic, its effect on human rights legislation, the global economy and how various organizations are combating force labour practices.

Modern slavery topic needs a bit of contextualization to begin the discussion because it is not standardized, it has no legal definition. It can be figured out that it is a mix of human trafficking, slavery and servitude. This is a major cause for concern because despite being banned in all countries of the world, there is a considerable grey area of crime in this respect. The main way it is produced is by situations of forced labour. Hence, it is believed that it is a great part of world’s supply chains. Modern slavery is calculated to reach 50 million people nowadays, with an uplift of 10 million people in the last five years. Around half of them are forced workers. In terms of economics, it is about half a trillion dollars profit per annum on forced labour.

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Publication date: March 10, 2023

On 5 January 2023 the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) entered into force. In the framework of European green deal and ESG initiatives, this new directive tries to modernize and strengthen the rules about social and environmental information that companies have to report. A broader set of large companies, as well as listed SMEs, will now be required to report on sustainability – approximately 50.000 companies in total. By the previous regulation, the Non-Financial Reporting Directive, only about 11.000 companies were required to report. A consultation carried out by the Commission found that many stakeholders were in favour of extending reporting requirements to additional categories of companies.

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Publication date: March 10, 2023

PPP is a legal institution introduced into the Polish legal order in 2008 by the Public-Private Partnership Act, which regulates the issues discussed below. To put it simply, a public-private partnership consists in the joint implementation of a project by a private partner and a public entity. It is based on a long-term agreement (which is concluded for 30 or longer) specifying the division of tasks and risks between the two cooperating parties.

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Publication date: March 03, 2023

Sukuk is a financial bond that complies with Islamic religious law commonly known as Sharia. The traditional Western interest-paying bond structure is prohibited in the Islamic law because the riba, or interest debt, goes against precepts of Islam. Therefore, the Islamic countries and investors need a structure to link the returns and cash flows of debt financing to a specific asset being purchased, effectively distributing the benefits of that asset. In order to do that, in Malaysia, the sukuk was created twenty three years ago and, since then, it has become extremely popular in Islamic finance.

Sukuk represents aggregate and undivided shares of ownership in a tangible asset as it relates to a specific project or a specific investment activity. An investor in sukuk, therefore, does not own a debt obligation owed by the bond issuer, but instead owns a piece of the asset that’s linked to the investment. This means that sukuk holders, unlike bond holders, receive a portion of the earnings generated by the associated asset. Hence, financing can only be raised for identifiable asset, this means an asset whose commercial value can be measured.

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