Insurance companies are cancelling war risk coverage for vessels in the Gulf as the widening Iran conflict disrupted shipping, leaving at least four tankers damaged, two seafarers killed and 150 ships stranded around the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported. Shipping through the strait between Iran and Oman, which carries around one-fifth of oil consumed globally as well as large quantities of gas, has ground to a near halt after vessels in the area were hit as Iran retaliated to U.S. and Israeli strikes.

The International Monetary Fund says it allowing Egypt to draw on about $2.3 billion from an earlier approved loan, noting that the country has made progress in restoring economic stability and reducing inflation as part of a reform program, the Associated Press reported. The IMF said in a statement Wednesday that the decision to release the funding followed reviews of the government reforms, which it credited with bringing about “a broad-based economic recovery” in the world’s most populous Arab country. It noted that the gross domestic product grew at a rate of 4.4% from 2024 to 2025.

The U.S. is moving to sever a small Swiss bank from access to the U.S. financial system for its alleged support for Iranian and Russian actors, as U.S. and Iranian officials hold indirect talks Thursday in Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear negotiations, the Associated Press reported. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a federal regulation Thursday that, if finalized, would prohibit U.S. institutions from doing business with MBaer Merchant Bank AG, which has no relation to the larger Swiss bank Julius Baer. The bank is accused of funneling over $100 million through the U.S.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has opened a preliminary inquiry into Binance following reports that the cryptocurrency exchange allowed $1.7 billion in transactions tied to Iranian entities and Russia’s sanctions-evading oil trade, Decrypt.com reported. The probe follows reporting by The Wall Street Journal alleging that internal Binance investigators uncovered transfers from accounts on the platform to intermediaries connected to Iran, including entities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Yemen’s Houthi militants.

An Israeli court formally opened insolvency proceedings on Feb. 22 for XTL Biopharmaceuticals’ wholly owned subsidiary The Social Proxy Ltd., concluding that the unit is insolvent and has no reasonable prospect of economic rehabilitation, TipRanks.com reported. The court ordered the liquidation of The Social Proxy and appointed a trustee, marking a decisive step in winding down the web data operation.

Lebanon’s economic crisis, now in its seventh year, has brought an unusual potential lifeline into the spotlight: the central bank’s enormous gold reserves, i24news.tv reported. Valued at roughly $45 billion, the reserves have tripled in value since the start of the financial meltdown, fueled by a dramatic rise in global gold prices. The Financial Times is reporting that bankers and politicians are exploring ways to sell or lease portions of this gold to shore up the nation’s failing financial system, though the topic remains politically sensitive.

For the 10th year in a row, an Omani citizen took the initiative to release all 30 insolvent debtors detained by court order in A’Dhahirah Governorate, the Times of Oman reported. His offer applies to those who meet the conditions of the “Fak-Kurba” Initiative (Relief from Distress Initiative). The same citizen vowed to pursue his initiative during the rest of the holy month of Ramadan by securing the release of any new cases of insolvent debtors.

Animoca Brands has obtained a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), clearing the way for the Web3 investment giant to offer broker-dealer and asset management services to institutional and qualified investors in and from the emirate, Decrypt.com reported.