Some 4,000 British financial companies are expected to go out of business due to Covid-19 and related lockdowns and economic slowdowns, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)  said quoted by Reuters. Those firms were at “heightened risk” FCA said in an analysis.

Britain should not agree to follow European Union rules blindly as a price for better access to the bloc’s market after Brexit, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Wednesday.

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that halts transactions with eight Chinese apps. The blacklist includes the popular payments platform Alipay, as well as QQ Wallet and WeChat Pay.

Digital currency Bitcoin extended its record-smashing rally on Saturday, beginning the year with a surge over $30,000 for the first time, with ever more traders and investors betting that it is on its way to becoming a mainstream payment method.

China will take “necessary measures” to safeguard the interests of its companies after the New York Stock Exchange began delisting three Chinese telecom firms that Washington says have military ties, the country’s commerce ministry said on Saturday.

Brexit offers Britain a chance to do things differently in financial services, finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Sunday, but the UK will co-operate with the European Union on an approach to the sector despite little detail on the topic in its trade deal, Reuters reported.

The Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson was named by the International Fund to head the key steering committee. Thus Europe is regaining the leading position for the first time in more than 12 years, Reuters said.

Natural disasters like wildfires, which devastated parts of the US, and a record number of hurricanes in the Atlantic caused $76bn in insured losses during 2020, Swiss Re said on Tuesday.

Economists stay pessimistic about the recovery of Europe’s biggest economy as Covid-19 continues to stall economies. Lockdowns and new restrictive measures have contributed to negative outlook for the near and medium term.

A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered a criminal investigation into the role UBS Chief Executive Ralph Hamers played in ING Group’s failure to crack down on money laundering when he was head of the Dutch bank.