Quantitative easing, the policy tool deployed across the Group of Seven to stimulate economies through the financial crisis and pandemic, is rapidly falling out of favor in Britain, Bloomberg News reported. From politicians and the finance minister to economists and a former Bank of England governor, many are cooling rapidly on the merits of the tool as its cost to taxpayers and side effects become apparent. The result is likely to make it more difficult for the UK central bank to pull the QE lever in the same way again if the economy sours.

The number of instances of greenwashing by banks and financial services companies around the world rose 70% in the past 12 months from the previous 12 months, a report on Tuesday showed, Reuters reported. European financial institutions accounted for most instances and much of the greenwashing involved claims about fossil fuels.

The European Union is considering unlocking billions of euros for Hungary that were frozen over rule-of-law concerns as it seeks to win Budapest's approval for aid to Ukraine including a start to membership talks for Kyiv, senior officials said, Reuters reported. Hungary cultivates closer ties with Russia than other EU states, and is seen as the key potential opponent to a decision due in December on whether to open accession talks with Kyiv, which would require unanimous backing of the union's 27 members.

Italy intends to scale back its current set of state guarantees and create a new scheme to boost private investment in strategic infrastructure, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The move is part of Rome's efforts to phase out the expansionary policies adopted since 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis exacerbated by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. As of Dec. 31, 2022, state guarantees amounted to 15.8% of Italy's gross domestic product (GDP), Treasury data showed in April, marginally below the 16.1% of 2021.

Traders of bank bonds are no longer penalizing UBS Group AG for Swiss risk. That’s opportune as the country’s largest lender considers a new issue of additional tier 1 notes, Bloomberg News reported. UBS, which acquired Credit Suisse in a government-brokered rescue that left investors in Credit Suisse’s AT1s with $17 billion of worthless notes, saw its risk premium soar to 450 basis points relative to non-Swiss issuers. Six months later that penalty has nearly vanished as confidence returns for AT1 notes in general, and UBS in particular.

The number of businesses becoming insolvent has surged by a third in the first nine months of the year but remains below pre-Covid levels, the Irish Independent reported. Insolvency levels rose by 33pc in the first three quarters of 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to PwC’s latest Insolvency Barometer. The retail and construction sectors account for the highest number of business failures, but the failure rate is highest in the arts, entertainment and hospitality sector, according to Ken Tyrrell, business recovery partner, PwC Ireland.

British finance minister Jeremy Hunt set out plans on Monday to freeze and then cut the number of government workers to save up to 1 billion pounds ($1.2 billion), an attempt to appease some in his own Conservative Party noisily demanding tax cuts, Reuters reported. While admitting "the level of tax is too high", Hunt sought at the governing party's annual conference to turn attention towards efforts to boost public sector productivity in Britain, saying that was the way to reduce ballooning public spending.

Bank of England rate-setter Catherine Mann warned against letting up in the fight against inflation as she disparaged the central bank’s forecasts and predicted permanently higher interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. Mann, who is seen as the most hawkish rate-setter on the Monetary Policy Committee, said that interest rates have only just reached restrictive territory after the BOE halted its hiking cycle last month.

The chair of the board of Alecta, Sweden's largest pension fund provider, resigned on Monday following months of questions over the company's loss-making investments in U.S. banks and a Swedish property group, Reuters reported. Alecta, the subject of two ongoing probes by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) over risk taking, said in a statement its deputy board chair, Jan-Olof Jacke, will lead the board until a permanent candidate is elected. "In a situation where there has been too much focus on my person, I have decided to resign," Ingrid Bonde said in a statement.

Ukraine's central bank said it would bring in a more flexible exchange rate from Tuesday, relaxing the official peg it has had throughout the war with Russia in a move to boost the economy, Reuters reported. Central Bank Governor Andriy Pyshnyi said financial stability in Ukraine had climbed to a "historic maximum", allowing the central bank to start easing wartime restrictions in a bid to help the economy and businesses. "Compared with July last year, the situation is radically different," Pyshnyi told an online media briefing.