Britain’s government, in a plan unveiled on Thursday, envisions a new, special arrangement for the country’s large financial sector after Britain leaves the European Union next year, the International New York Times reported. It remains to be seen, though, if the bloc’s officials will accept the proposal. In the new plan, Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, abandoned previous hopes of a so-called “mutual recognition” of financial regulations between the United Kingdom and Europe.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has been prompted by the collapse of the UK outsourcer Carillion to look at setting up a list of public-sector service suppliers, to help avoid the State becoming too exposed to individual firms, the Irish Times reported. Speaking at a Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on Thursday, NTMA chief executive Conor O’Kelly said that such a list would allow procurement officials in departments and Government agencies to assess if Irish taxpayers had too much exposure to certain “counterparties”.

EU regulators have approved Irish airline Ryanair’s planned purchase of 75 per cent of Laudamotion, the Austrian carrier founded by triple Formula One champion, Niki Lauda. Ryanair pledged last February to invest €100 million in Laudamotion and took a 24.9 per cent stake in the business, which it said would increase to 75 per cent once it got European Commission approval, the Irish Times reported. Brussels unconditionally approved the deal on Thursday. “The commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area,” a statement said.

The European Commission has lowered its growth forecasts for the euro area, blaming growing trade tensions and rising energy prices, the Financial Times reported. Brussels said that it was now projecting euro area growth of 2.1 per cent this year compared with a forecast in May of 2.3 per cent. Germany is one of the countries to have seen the biggest reduction in projected growth. In May, the commission predicted that the German economy would expand by 2.3 per cent this year, but this has now been moderated to 1.9 per cent.

Britain has given up trying to keep full access to the European Union market for its giant financial services sector after Brexit and instead will push for an easing of existing rules, the Financial Times reported. Prime Minister Theresa May's latest plans for Brexit, which will be published in detail on Thursday, show that London will seek a looser partnership with the EU in the financial services sector than its current ties, the newspaper said, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

The eurozone’s chief banking watchdog has finally said what it plans to do to pressure banks to deal with bad loans left over from the region’s financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. The European Central Bank said on Wednesday that it would set “bank-specific expectations” to deal with the stock of non-performing loans — one of the biggest problems left over from the economic slump. “In March 2017, ECB Banking Supervision published guidance to banks on non-performing loans, which provided an effective toolkit for banks when tackling non-performing loans,” the ECB said.

Eurozone financials stocks are falling for a second day, with investors reflecting concerns about profitability among the bloc’s big lenders, the Financial Times reported. Spanish banks are taking the brunt of the sell-off on Tuesday morning, with Banco de Sabadell shedding nearly 4 per cent, Bankia off 3 per cent, and CaixaBank down 2 per cent. But prices are sliding on banks across the single market, with BPER Banca, UBI Banca and Banco BPM down 2 per cent in Milan, and Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank losing 2 per cent in Frankfurt.

European Commission officials say Greece will still be subject to quarterly inspections from creditors after the bailout program ends in late August. Greece has already committed to two more years of budget austerity policies after its third consecutive international rescue program is concluded, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. But creditors on Wednesday said Greece will remain under an "enhanced surveillance framework" to ensure that it meets ambitious budget targets through 2022.

When a beloved regional beer ramps up production, there’s always a question of whether it can gain new fans without losing what made it special. Something similar is happening with a German debt instrument known as Schuldschein, a hitherto hidden corner of the market where borrowing has tripled in recent years, Bloomberg News reported. Not quite a loan and not quite a bond, the traditional Schuldschein was hammered out by local lenders for solid local manufacturers. Now companies like Volkswagen AG, ArcelorMittal and U.S. paintmaker Sherwin-Williams Co.

People who work in high finance tend to develop the belief that they know a lot about business, that in fact they are better at business than regular businesspeople, a Bloomberg View reported. This is an understandable belief. The financial industry is a sort of meta-business. Successfully investing in or lending to companies requires you to understand their underlying business, and the deeper your understanding the more confident you will probably be in your investment.