When it comes to Brexit, investors have endured three years of deadlines and disappointments. Now with a finish line tantalizingly in sight, they have switched from expectations it could last forever to perhaps pricing the endgame, Bloomberg News reported. As talks toward a deal enter overtime, negotiators from Britain and the European Union will still need official approval for any accord, and on the U.K. side that means Prime Minister Boris Johnson must win the support of Parliament. It could prove a formidable challenge, yet across multiple asset classes optimism is surging.

Companies are stepping up purchases of insurance to protect themselves against insolvencies in Britain, industry sources say, in part due to concerns about the impact of Brexit, Reuters reported. The UK economy is feeling the pinch from the political uncertainty, which has hit consumer spending and led to a drop in the value of the pound. This has contributed to high-profile company collapses like that of travel firm Thomas Cook, which also suffered under the weight of its debt pile.

Insolvent Thomas Cook’s German unit has withdrawn an application for a state bridging loan for legal reasons, the company’s liquidator said on Wednesday, adding that the firm was still talking with investors about a possible rescue, Reuters reported. Insolvency administrators of the law firm Hermann Wienberg said the credit application needed to be amended, adding that the already submitted application would be withdrawn. It did not say whether Thomas Cook would file a new application.

Credit unions in the Republic may have to withdraw €1.8 billion of deposits and investments lodged with financial institutions in the UK in the event of a disorderly Brexit, it has emerged, The Irish Times reported. Fianna Fáil’s spokesman on finance, Michael McGrath, has raised concerns about the matter this week after he received a response to a parliamentary question, which clarified that credit unions will not be allowed to hold investments in institutions in a so-called third country outside the EU.

UK employment suffered its sharpest decline in more than four years in the three months to August, new figures reveal, The Irish Times reported. The number of people in work declined by 56,000 to 32.69 million in the quarter, as the number of people claiming unemployment benefits jumped higher, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The slump was significantly below forecasts by economists, who had predicted a 26,000 rise in employment. The quarterly decline in employment was the heaviest fall since May 2015, when the level of employment slid by 65,000.

UK pub and brewing group Marston’s said it expected a fall in profit this year as it took a hit from lower food sales, sending its share price sharply down, the Financial Times reported. Shares in the Wolverhampton-group, which runs the Pitcher & Piano and Revere chains, fell as much as 11 per cent on Tuesday morning after it forecast an underlying pre-tax profit of about £101m for the year to September, down from £104m a year earlier. The group said it had suffered lower food sales, while higher labour costs and investment meant its profit margin would be below last year’s.

The Greek government has set out its blueprint for helping the country’s banks reduce a 75 billion euro ($83 billion) pile of toxic debt left over from the last recession, Bloomberg News reported. The plan aims to speed up sales of non-performing loans by Greek lenders, repackaging them into securities with the state guaranteeing the safest portions. It’s based on a model used in Italy but unlike that program, the safest tranches of Greece’s NPLs will have a BB- rating -- three steps into junk territory.

Ashmore Group Plc and Venezuela’s government may be headed for a legal battle as a potential default on the state oil company’s 2020 bonds sets off a rush to lay claim to the nation’s most prized asset abroad, Bloomberg News reported. Ashmore, which owned about half the securities as of June 30, has urged Petroleos de Venezuela to make the $913 million payment on its 2020 notes due Oct. 28, yet the team advising National Assembly President Juan Guaido claims it doesn’t have the funds, three people familiar with the matter said.

The former chief executive of bankrupt travel firm Thomas Cook said on Tuesday he understood public anger over his pay but defended his record, saying he had worked tirelessly to try to save the company, Reuters reported. Thomas Cook, the world’s oldest travel firm, collapsed last month after it failed to finalize a restructuring plan, stranding over a hundred thousand passengers.

Eurozone industrial production ticked higher in August but economists warned the rebound was insufficient to stem a contraction during the third quarter, the Financial Times reported. The key gauge of output rose 0.4 per cent in August from July, according to Eurostat, the bloc's statistics institute. It was down 2.8 per cent from the same month last year, marking the tenth-consecutive annual fall — the longest drop since the eurozone debt crisis eight years ago.