The rouble slumped to its weakest point in more than seven months against the dollar on Monday and was on course for its biggest single-day drop since July amid fears that sanctions on Russian oil will hit the country's export revenue, Reuters reported. Monday's drop came as Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Belarus, fanning fears in Kyiv that he intends to pressure his ex-Soviet ally to join a fresh ground offensive that would open a new front against Ukraine. The currency also lost 3.8% to trade at 71.71 against the euro , also a more than seven-month low.

Shareholders in Uniper on Monday approved a state bailout that has so far cost the German government more than 50 billion euros ($53 billion), paving a way for a de facto nationalisation of the struggling gas giant, Reuters reported. Chief Executive Klaus-Dieter Maubach earlier told a virtual extraordinary meeting that the disarray caused by the loss of gas supplies from Russia could leave shareholders with nothing if they did not accept the German proposal.

Europe has been hit hard by the fallout from the war in Ukraine, putting its companies on the front line of what has become a war of economic attrition between the West and Russia that is playing out alongside the real war in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported. The U.K. is suffering more than other big countries in Europe, economists say. Inflation is running in the double digits, higher than all of its Group of Seven industrialized peers with the exception of Italy; gross domestic product shrank 0.2% in the third quarter year-over-year, setting the U.K.

The key prosecution witness in Germany's biggest post-war fraud trial admitted guilt on Monday in a scam that led to Wirecard's collapse but said the company was a "swindle" from the start, with former chief executive Markus Braun at its core, Reuters reported. Wirecard's downfall two years ago shook the German business establishment, putting politicians who had backed it under intense scrutiny, along with regulators that took years to investigate allegations against the payments company.

After setting aside almost half a trillion dollars to date tackling its energy crisis, Germany is also poised to take on the risks associated with 216 billion euros ($229 billion) of derivatives built up by energy giant Uniper, Reuters reported. Germany is nationalising Uniper in what is the biggest corporate bailout in the country's history, after Russia's move to choke off gas threw Europe's biggest economy into chaos. Uniper has already booked billions of euros of losses on derivatives, exacerbating a crisis as it rushed to plug the gap left after Russia turned off the taps.

The Netherlands expects to borrow 101.5 billion euros ($107.8) on the debt markets next year, the most since 2012, and its funding needs are "extremely uncertain" as much depends on the energy price outlook, the country's debt agency said on Friday, Reuters reported. Around 50 billion euros will be raised from long-term debt, the Dutch State Treasury Agency (DSTA) said. The Netherlands will also sell a new, 20-year green bond, its second bond, in the format that funds environmentally-friendly projects.

The Dutch central bank on Thursday issued a statement saying cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin is operating in the Netherlands without being registered to do so, Reuters. KuCoin is a subsidiary of a Seychelles-registered company called MEK Global Limited, the bank said in a statement. MGL "is acting in violation of the law on preventing money laundering and financing terrorism and offering illegal services," De Nederlandsche Bank said.

A dual citizen of Sweden and the United Kingdom pleaded guilty to U.S. fraud and money laundering charges on Friday for selling a fake cryptocurrency alongside one of the United States' most-wanted fugitives, a woman referred to as the 'Cryptoqueen,' Reuters reported. Karl Greenwood, 45, was arrested in Thailand and extradited to the United States in 2018 for his role in selling the purported cryptocurrency OneCoin, which federal prosecutors in Manhattan call a pyramid scheme that defrauded investors out of $4 billion. He has been detained since his arrest.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will limit ticket sales for flights to London's Heathrow Airport during planned strikes by border agents over Christmas and New Year's Eve to reduce disruption, the airlines said on Friday, Reuters reported. UK Border Force workers at several major British airports including the country's busiest, Heathrow, will go on strike for eight days this month in a dispute over pay, threatening to slow processing of passengers arriving from abroad during the holidays.

A ninth interest rate hike in a row by the Bank of England looks to be a foregone conclusion on Thursday and investors will be looking for clues on how many more will be needed with the economy sliding into recession but inflation still above 10%, Reuters reported. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has faced both encouraging and worrying news on the economy since a majority voted in early November to raise rates by 0.75 percentage point, the biggest hike since 1989.