The European Union's body for dismantling failed banks said on Wednesday it would ratchet up pressure on lenders over the coming months to bolster their defences so that none remain "too big to fail" by January 2024, Reuters reported. The Single Resolution Board (SRB), in its first "heat map" on progress in preventing failing banks from needing a taxpayer bailout, said that the shortfall in special debt issuance by banks to replenish burnt-out capital was down to 32.6 billion euros, or 0.45% of the total risk exposure.

Embattled Scandinavian airline SAS and unions representing pilots will resume negotiations on Wednesday to try and agree a new labor deal to end a one-week strike, Reuters reported. SAS has canceled more than 1,200 flights since July 4 when talks with many of its pilots over a new collective bargaining agreement collapsed and they launched the crippling strike. "What has now happened is that we have asked the parties to gather in Stockholm from Wednesday," Swedish mediator Jan Sjolin said.

Spain will impose new taxes on large banks and energy companies, wresting billions of euros from business to fund policies to ease the impact of record inflation on consumers, Bloomberg News reported. The levies on both financial institutions and energy firms will last for two years. The government expects the former to raise about 1.5 billion euros ($1.5 billion) per year, while the windfall tax on energy firms, which have benefited from surging prices, will collect 2 billion euros a year.

The French government is poised to pay more than 8 billion euros ($8.05 billion) to bring power giant EDF back under full state control, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, adding the aim is to complete the deal in the fourth quarter, Reuters reported. One of the sources said the cost of buying the 16% stake the state does not already own could be as high as almost 10 billion euros, when accounting for outstanding convertible bonds and a premium to current market prices. EDF and the economy ministry declined to comment.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki agreed on Tuesday to work together to tackle rising prices of food and energy, as well as volatility in currency markets, exacerbated by Russia's war in Ukraine, Reuters reported. They said that the war had raised exchange rate volatility, which could pose adverse implications for economic and financial stability, and pledged to cooperate "as appropriate" on currency issues.

Moscow's plan to implement a new law enabling authorities to seize the assets of Western firms leaving the country failed to get through parliament before the summer recess, giving companies more time to negotiate exits, Reuters reported. Russia's parliamentary session ended last week without the bill being passed. That makes any progress unlikely until at least mid-September, when the lower house of parliament, or Duma, begins reviewing proposed laws in its autumn session. Some experts now doubt whether the proposed law will be implemented at all.

The European Union gave its final approval for Croatia to adopt the euro early next year, when it will become the currency area’s 20th member, Bloomberg News reported. Finance ministers from the bloc meeting in Brussels held a signing ceremony Tuesday. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, had recommended that the Adriatic nation of 3.9 million people should be allowed to adopt the common currency, finding that it fulfills the necessary requirements on issues including inflation and public debt.

Germany is ready to make a decision on a bailout for Uniper SE “soon” but ongoing talks with the company are “difficult,” Bloomberg News reported. Uniper - which is heavily dependent on Russian gas - asked the German government for a bailout on Friday, the first major corporate casualty of Moscow’s squeeze on European energy flows. The government is prepared to help the company no matter what, said a spokeswoman for the government. Germany and Uniper have been locked in talks for weeks over a potential rescue package.

Euro zone finance ministers said on Monday the fight against inflation was the current priority despite dwindling growth in the bloc, as they are set to be informed of a deteriorating economic outlook by the European Commission, Reuters reported. At a regular monthly meeting of ministers, the EU executive commission will give an update of its economic forecasts, showing slower growth and higher inflation, the commission's vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis said on the sidelines of the meeting.

Russia's financial monitoring agency, Rosfinmonitoring, said on Friday it was using software to track cryptocurrency transactions and hopes to improve its capabilities, as Moscow ushers in regulation on what one lawmaker dubbed "cryptomania," Reuters reported. The Bank of Russia has long voiced scepticism over cryptocurrencies, citing financial stability concerns, and has advocated for a complete ban on trading and mining, at odds with a government keen to regulate the industry.