And here we are again, back for another week of regulatory affairs with Mlex's crack team of reporters around the globe.

My name is James Panicki from Mlex's Asiaific team, and it's an honor to be in your

feed once again, and buckle up because we have some very big stories for you this week. In just under

10 minutes from now, we'll ask ourselves just how the alleged $35 billion fraud and racketeering case involving those behind US investment firm

Arcagos came about. We'll also examine the regulatory blind spot that allowed it all to happen.

Neil Rowland will join us from Washington, D.C. to give us the lowdown. But first up today, we

return to the question of GIFI, the online

database containing GIFs, which have now become the must-use visual aids for any social media

posting. Whether you pronounce them GIFs or GIFs doesn't really matter. What's important is that

the UK Competition and Markets Authority has withheld approval of Meta's acquisition

of Giffy, bucking the regulatory trend in other jurisdictions where the deal was given the green

light. There's just one problem though. Meta's acquisition of Giffy is a done deal. It's over,

and that's why there is so much at stake in the court hearings

now underway in London. We're trying to find out whether the eggs can indeed be unscrambled,

should the CMA win the day. So recently, all eyes have been on the UK Competition Appeal

Tribunal, where it's all unfolding.

And luckily for us, our senior correspondent, Victoria Ibitoye, is in London and has been following the case for us.

So, Victoria, tell me about Meta's dispute with the CMA.

What do we need to know?

Yes, so last week was the culmination of months of wrangling and back and forth between

the CMA and META, formerly known as Facebook.

And essentially the dispute stems from the CMA's prohibition of META's acquisition of GIFI, which is a platform that runs

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