One of Europe’s biggest investors is putting banks on notice and may start exiting the sector unless it sees proof that claims of portfolio decarbonization are matched by action, Bloomberg News reported. “The financial sector has really lagged,” said Dominique Dijkhuis, a member of the executive board and head of investments at ABP, Europe’s biggest pension fund with about $600 billion under management.

The UK grid is asking some households to cut energy use on Monday — a request which is likely to be extended Tuesday — as a plunge in wind power and freezing temperatures across the country test its ability to keep the lights on, Bloomberg News reported. National Grid Plc will use the emergency tool for the first time to help ease a supply squeeze. Starting 5 p.m., customers of Centrica Plc, EON SE and Octopus Energy Ltd. who have signed up for the program will be asked not to use dishwashers or washing machines during a two-hour period of peak demand.

The number of Scottish businesses experiencing insolvency-related activity jumped over 32% in December 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, Insider.co.uk reported. Insolvency and restructuring trade body R3's analysis of data provided by Creditsafe showed that there were 142 cases of insolvency-related activity - which includes liquidator appointments, administrator appointments and creditors’ meetings - in Scotland last month – an increase of 35 activities from December 2021’s total of 107.

Jutta Doenges, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who also ran Germany’s debt management agency, will take over as chief financial officer of recently nationalized utility Uniper SE, Bloomberg News reported. Doenges will take over on March 1, and replace Tiina Tuomela, whose contract expires, the company said in a statement, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg. The Dusseldorf-based company suffered massive losses after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a surge in gas prices, and is in the midst of a management shakeup following a government takeover.

U.S. authorities designated cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato Ltd. as a primary money-laundering concern and charged its founder for allegedly facilitating money laundering for criminals, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Treasury Department designated Bitzlato under a section of the USA Patriot Act, a law used to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, for allegedly laundering illicit funds for ransomware actors based in Russia. This type of action, a rarely used so-called death-knell sanction that cuts off the entity from the U.S.

The European Central Bank pushed back on Thursday against market bets that it would slow the pace of its interest rate hikes given recent falls in inflation and easing pressure to keep up with policy moves by other central banks, Reuters reported. Traders had recently trimmed their expectations for how much the ECB would raise borrowing costs, comforted by data showing lower inflation in both the euro zone and the United States and related talk of smaller hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Strikes coordinated by French unions brought significant disruption to the country on Thursday as they protest against government plans to revamp the pension system and test president Emmanuel Macron’s ability to resist street pressure, Bloomberg News reported. Workers in sectors including railways, schools and energy are taking part in the 24-hour strike against Macron’s plan to raise France’s minimum retirement age to 64 from 62. Unions are leading marches across France’s largest cities with the backing of left-wing political parties.

The writing was on the wall when Britain finalized its break from the European Union: The UK sorely lacked the battery manufacturing capability that would be absolutely critical to the auto industry’s future, leaving the country’s already declining car sector in a make-or-break bind, Bloomberg News reported. The failure of Britishvolt Ltd. to get past the stage of developing prototypes for an industry still vital to the UK’s economy casts further doubt on its prospects in the global race by nations to become self-sufficient in greener technology.

The rate of inflation in Britain slowed for a consecutive second month in December, but was still running in the double digits, maintaining a tight squeeze on household finances, the New York Times reported. Consumer prices rose 10.5 percent in December from a year earlier, down from 10.7 percent the previous month, with rising food prices and prices at hotels and restaurants offsetting lower gasoline and clothing prices, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it aims to buy a minority stake in ITA Airways, seeking to advance an industry consolidation that would give the German airline a stronger foothold in a major European aviation market, Bloomberg News. reported. The German carrier didn’t disclose financial details, or lay out the size of the stake it wishes to buy in the successor of Alitalia SpA. Lufthansa wants to buy as much as 40% of ITA in an initial step and subject to negotiations.