The headlines might have been fixated on the formal start of the UK’s exit from the EU but there was perhaps greater interest among market participants in a media report that claimed the European Central Bank’s policy intentions had been misinterpreted, the Financial Times reported. The report, carried by the Reuters newswire and citing ECB sources, said the central bank was now wary of making further changes to its policy message next month.

Russia won an early verdict in a London lawsuit that may force Ukraine to repay part of a defaulted $3 billion bond, in a dispute that extended the battle over Russia’s annexation of Crimea into a U.K courtroom, Bloomberg News reported. Judge William Blair threw out all of Ukraine’s arguments Wednesday, saying he was at pains to distinguish between the law and the "troubling" political background. He ruled the case shouldn’t go to a full trial but gave Ukraine the right to appeal.

One of the big fights in the negotiations over the U.K.’s exit from the European Union will be over money: the EU’s so-called “divorce bill.” The idea of having to pay the EU to leave is controversial in the U.K. after a referendum campaign in which the British contribution to the bloc was an important argument used by campaigners for Brexit, The Wall Street Journal Real Time Brussels blog reported. The Leave campaign claimed erroneously that the U.K. sent the EU £350 million ($435 million) a week, money it suggested could be better used to finance Britain’s state-run health service.

Aurelius Equity Opportunities shares plunged for a second day after executive rebuttals of Tuesday’s allegations from short seller Gotham City Research failed to soothe wary investors, Bloomberg News reported. Aurelius tumbled a record 35 percent to 35 euros in Frankfurt trading. The plunge follows a 17 percent decline yesterday after Gotham published a 68-page report questioning the company’s accounting. The stock is worth no more than 8.50 euros, the short seller said yesterday.

Aurelius Equity Opportunities shares plunged for a second day after executive rebuttals of Tuesday’s allegations from short seller Gotham City Research failed to soothe wary investors, Bloomberg News reported. Aurelius tumbled a record 35 percent to 35 euros in Frankfurt trading. The plunge follows a 17 percent decline yesterday after Gotham published a 68-page report questioning the company’s accounting. The stock is worth no more than 8.50 euros, the short seller said yesterday.

The European Central Bank improperly veered into political activity during the eurozone crisis and should withdraw from the “troika” of international bailout monitors, according to anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International. In a review of the central bank’s actions, carried out in co-operation with ECB officials, the report called on the ECB to be placed under greater scrutiny by EU institutions, saying its mandate to ensure price stability in the eurozone had been pushed to “breaking point” in tackling the crisis, the Financial Times reported.

Banks are treading carefully, enacting two-stage contingency plans, to avoid losing nervous London-based staff as they work out how many jobs will have to move to continental Europe as Britain exits the European Union, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. British Prime Minister Theresa May will trigger formal EU divorce proceedings on Wednesday, launching two years of negotiations that will shape the future of Britain and Europe as well as London's place as a global financial centre.

Italy's Banca Popolare di Vicenza posted a 1.9 billion euro (1.60 billion pounds) loss for 2016 and said it was bleeding deposits, raising doubts over whether regulators will deem the regional bank viable and approve its request for state aid. Popolare di Vicenza and local peer Veneto Banca this month asked the Italian government for a bailout, following in the steps of Italy's fourth-largest lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

European governments and related organisations have ramped up their sales of new debt this year, in the latest sign of bond markets bracing for rises in interest rates and an increase in political risks, the Financial Times reported. Overall borrowing from eurozone sovereigns, local authorities, agencies and supranationals such as the European Investment Bank is currently at €210bn — the highest year-to-date amount since 2012, Dealogic data show, and the second-highest level on record at this stage of the year.

European banking regulators Monday touted their achievements in pulling eurozone banks back from the brink, though they said more should be done to improve the sector’s profitability, repeating a call for more bank mergers. The eurozone economy is moving to slow, steady growth—giving the region’s banks a shot in the arm—after a prolonged contraction following the 2011 euro crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. Read more. (Subscription required.)