Financial services supports female leadership study: Women make up 45 percent of the 1 million-strong workforce in UK financial services, yet make up less than one-third of senior leadership across the industry. Why? Standard Chartered fears that menopause may be leading to a lack of support for senior female leaders, hindering gender equality and blocking women from taking senior roles across the City. As such, the bank has commissioned The Fawcett Society, a women’s rights charity that will survey City workers via the Financial Services Skills Commission, which counts Barclays, EY, HSBC, Legal & General and PwC among its members. More from The Guardian.

Epic Games v. Apple winds down: After a heated legal battle between the game software company and tech giant, the three week-long trial is expected to conclude this week — but its results could change the tech landscape forever, writes the Wall Street Journal. Apple is being accused by Epic for improperly blocking third-party app stores on its mobile devices and forcing developers to use its in-app payment system for all digital transactions, allowing it to collect a commission as high as 30 percent. The case comes at a time when Apple is under intense scrutiny by regulators and lawmakers, for exercising too much control over its app store and constricting competitors.

Startups skeptical of SPACs: Start-up CEOs are growing increasingly wary of Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs), a popular 2020 trend where shell companies listed on a stock exchange would acquire private companies, thus making them public without a traditional IPO. But after watching others suffer stock slides and earnings calls with disappointed investors in the weeks after finishing a SPAC deal, start-ups are giving SPACs the cold shoulder, writes the Wall Street Journal.

UK brands look to both users and investors as sticky consumers: In an economy that offers consumers a staggering array of choices, cultivating customer loyalty is more challenging than ever. And yet, the enthusiasm around several recent opportunities for consumers to buy shares in their favourite brands show us that loyalty is most definitely not dead.Our UK Managing Director Katie Spreadbury explores the growing trend of companies offering stock as an incentive for brand loyalty on our blog.