Sanitation firm accused of illegal underage labor | Rivian to cut 10% of workforce | Lloyds under scrutiny for money laundering

In today’s Portfolio Intelligence Daily, where we highlight under the radar investment themes and idiosyncratic company risks:?

• Sanitation firm accused of illegal underage labor
• Rivian to cut 10% of workforce
• Lloyds under scrutiny for money laundering

Auquan’s analyst team curates these summaries from our intelligence engine, which uses retrieval augmented generation (RAG AI) to uncover unique insights at scale, typically involving emerging markets, supply chains, financially-material ESG risks, and the impact of regulatory changes.

The latest news from Auquan:?

• ESG at the crossroads (Environmental Finance)?
• Why AI is finally catching up with financial services (Maddyness)
• Auquan introduces Prompt Intelligence to deliver real-time insights on any company at any time,? regardless of? the existence of prior coverage (Auquan)

Sanitation firm servicing slaughterhouses accused of illegal underage labor

The US Department of Labor has accused Fayette Janitorial Services of hiring 24 minors to clean slaughterhouses in several states

• A Tennessee-based company employed at least two dozen children as young as 13 to work overnight shifts cleaning dangerous equipment in slaughterhouses.
• Perdue Farms confirmed that they ended their contract with Fayette prior to the lawsuit filing. Seaboard Triumph Foods has not yet responded.
• The Labor Department found that Fayette had hired at least 24 children between the ages of 13 and 17 to work the overnight shift cleaning dangerous power-driven equipment
• Minors were used to clean dangerous kill floor equipment such as head splitters, jaw pullers, meat bandsaws, and neck clippers
• Fayette Janitorial? has denied the allegations, saying that it has a "zero tolerance" policy for child labor

Select timeline

• February 22, 2024 | Janitorial company hired minors to clean slaughterhouses, US Labor Dept. says (CNN)
• February 22, 2024 | A US company is accused of illegally hiring children to clean meat processing plants (ABC)
• February 21, 2024 | Company Hired 24 Minors to Clean Slaughterhouses, Labor Department Says (NYT)

Rivian to cut 10% of workforce

Rivian plans to cut 10% of its salaried workforce and a limited number of non-manufacturing hourly employees to reduce costs in the challenging electric vehicle market.

• This marks the third round of layoffs for the company since July 2022, with previous cuts of 6% in July 2022 and another 6% in February 2023.
• Despite doubling the number of electric vehicles (EVs) built and shipped in 2023 compared to 2022, Rivian incurred a loss of over $5.4 billion for the year.
• Rivian's net loss in the fourth quarter was $1.5 billion, a slight improvement from the previous year, and it reported an adjusted loss of $1.1 billion.
• Rivian's shares dropped over 15.6% in after-hours trading following the production and profit loss guidance, coupled with the layoffs.

Select timeline

• February 21, 2024 | EV Maker Rivian to Cut Salaried Workforce by 10% (WSJ)
• February 1, 2023 | Rivian to lay off 6% of its workforce as EV price war concerns grow (CNBC)
• July 28, 2022 | Electric truck maker Rivian laying off 6% of its workforce (CNN)

Lloyds under scrutiny for money laundering

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is investigating Lloyds Banking Group's anti-money laundering controls

• The inquiry focuses on Lloyds' compliance with UK money laundering rules and the FCA's business principles.
• Lloyds, in its annual report, revealed full cooperation with the investigation and an inability to estimate potential financial impact.
• The FCA declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
• Recent scrutiny on money-laundering controls in top UK banks reflects increased vigilance by authorities.

Select timeline

• February 22, 2024 | Lloyds says it faces money laundering controls investigation (Reuters)
• February 22, 2024 | Lloyds Banking Group Under FCA Radar for Anti-Money Laundering Controls (BNN Breaking)
• February 22, 2024 | NEWS: Lloyds' AML controls being probed by Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (AML Intelligence)

While you’re here…

If you find insights like these interesting, smash that subscribe button!

If you’d like our deeper risk analysis and ESG performance evaluation on any of the companies covered here or that you’re focused on, let us know. We’d love to show you how Auquan’s Intelligence Engine can help you transform company research, due diligence, and risk monitoring. Let’s talk!

#ai #rag #genai #esg #privatequity #duediligence