Europe

Weaknesses in the capital regime for the Swiss banking sector still need to be addressed after the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse, the Swiss National Bank said on Tuesday, backing government efforts to make the industry more robust, Reuters reported. Switzerland has pledged to introduce stricter banking regulations in response to the demise of Credit Suisse, which was subsequently taken over by its old rival UBS. At the centre of proposals set out by the government last year is that UBS should hold more capital to make it more robust and prevent a repeat of the Credit Suisse meltdown.

The UK Labour government announced it would save billions of pounds a year by slashing welfare spending, unveiling controversial reforms which have provoked criticism from disability campaigners and divided Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s governing party, Bloomberg News reported. The government will toughen the criteria that sick and disabled people must meet to qualify for Personal Independence Payments (PIPs), a key benefit aimed at helping people with disabilities go about their daily lives, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Appeal judges have approved emergency funding allowing Thames Water to access as much as £3 billion ($3.9 billion) and stave off temporary nationalization, Bloomberg News reported. The UK’s Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge to the proposed loan after a three-day hearing last week. The decision should give the beleaguered utility access to much needed funds and prevent a messy insolvency while it seeks a long term fix for its financial woes. The debt will be provided by a group of senior creditors — including Elliott Management, Silver Point and Pimco.

Germany is witnessing a significant rise in corporate bankruptcies, with 2024 marking a 22.4% increase in insolvency filings compared to the previous year, the Munich Eye reported. This surge has raised concerns among experts, with predictions of an impending wave of insolvencies in 2025 potentially surpassing those seen during the financial crisis of 2009. According to the Federal Statistical Office, February alone saw a 12.1% increase in bankruptcy filings compared to the same month in the previous year.

Most households in England will be charged the maximum increase in council tax for the third consecutive year after local authorities confirmed their plans before the 2025-26 financial year, The Guardian reported. Nearly nine in 10 (88%) of 153 upper-tier authorities in England will impose a 4.99% increase in April, the most allowed without triggering a local referendum. If councils increasing bills by 4.5% or more this year are included in the tally, the proportion rises to more than nine in 10 (94%), according to analysis by the PA news agency.

Rachel Reeves has defended her fiscal rules and pledged to bring down government borrowing, as the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer faces dissent from Labour party colleagues opposed to cuts to welfare payments and government spending, Bloomberg News reported. “When we’re spending £100 billion ($130 billion) a year on servicing government debt, I don’t think anyone could seriously argue that we don’t need to get a grip of government borrowing and government debt,” Reeves said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Monday.

The U.K. economy unexpectedly shrank in the first month of the year, the latest frustration for a relatively new government that has pledged to bring an end to a decade-and-a-half of stagnation, the Wall Street Journal reported. Gross domestic product was 0.1% lower in January than in the final month of 2024, the Office for National Statistics said Friday, weaker than the 0.1% rise expected by a consensus of economists. It also marks a slowdown from the 0.4% recorded in December.

Jockey Frankie Dettori is filing for bankruptcy following a long-running tax-avoidance case, The Telegraph reported. Dettori, who has ridden more than 3,300 career winners, announced the move three months after losing a court bid to retain anonymity in a battle with HM Revenue & Customs. He said: “For the last six-months, my advisors have been working with HMRC in an attempt to find a solution to my financial situation. “Regretfully, I will be filing for bankruptcy.

The European Central Bank has given UniCredit (CRDI.MI), opens new tab the green light to buy up to 29.9% of Commerzbank (CBKG.DE), opens new tab, the Italian bank said, adding it would likely wait until next year before deciding whether to pursue a full takeover, Reuters reported. With Germany up in arms against the potential acquisition, UniCredit's CEO Andrea Orcel, a veteran dealmaker, has thrust his bank into fast-moving Italian consolidation and put on ice his ambitions for a pan-European tie-up.

President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey, the Associated Press reported. The European tariff, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration, was expected to go into effect on April 1. But Trump, in a morning social media post, vowed a new escalation in his trade war if the EU pushes ahead with the planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. “If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S.