United Kingdom

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said disinflation in the UK is happening faster than officials had anticipated, the latest hint that the central bank will continue cutting interest rates next month, Bloomberg News reported. Bailey said during an event on Wednesday in Washington that inflation was lower than he had expected a year ago, highlighting a “good story” on second-round effects that threatened to keep price pressures elevated.

The Bank of England is hunting for better ways to keep a close eye on non-bank financial institutions as it looks to track escalating risks posed by the sector, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank has spent months probing how a bevy of investment banks, insurers, central counterparties, hedge funds and other asset managers can handle different forms of stress as part of its so-called system wide exploratory scenario. Still, Governor Andrew Bailey said regulators have already realized there’s a need for further tools to monitor these players.

A new luxury hotel near London’s Bond Street station is going up for sale after attempts to refinance the project so far have been unsuccessful, Bloomberg News reported. Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. has been appointed to market the five-star BoTree hotel on Marylebone Lane. The 199-room property, built on the site of a former car park, was developed by Shiva Hotels Group and cost £375 million ($487 million) to build. Place III has been attempting to refinance the hotel since it opened in September 2023.

The perilous state of U.K. council finances means one in four local authorities could be forced to request emergency support from the government to avoid effective bankruptcy over the next two years, according to research, the Independent reported. A survey of council chief executives suggests projected funding shortfalls, which are expected to total more than £2 billion next year, will threaten the viability of many councils in England without measures in the Budget to ensure stability and protect vital services.

Thames Water Utilities Ltd. has started a process to raise at least £3.3 billion ($4.3 billion) in equity that it needs to stay afloat, Bloomberg News reported. The UK’s largest water and sewage operator began the procedure in the past week, meaning potential investors now have access to a data room that provides sensitive information about the company. Thames and its adviser, Rothschild & Co., have approached numerous potential investors, including Brookfield Asset Management and Carlyle Group Inc.

The UK tax office is taking a tougher approach to clawing back debts, insolvency specialists said, a bid to squeeze £5 billion ($6.5 billion) in extra revenue that is adding to pressure on firms going out of business, Bloomberg New reported.

Scottish company insolvencies have declined by 16% since last year, but experts say overall volumes will remain high for some time to come, Scottish Financial News reported. There were a total of 73 company insolvencies registered in Scotland in September 2024, comprised of 48 CVLs, 18 compulsory liquidations and seven administrations. There were no CVAs or receivership appointments. Historically, compulsory liquidations were the most common type of company insolvency in Scotland. However, since April 2020, numbers of CVLs have remained higher than numbers of compulsory liquidations.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is considering raising taxes levied on entrepreneurs when they sell their businesses, as part of her push to raise as much as £40 billion ($52 billion) to balance Britain’s budget, Bloomberg News reported. Britain’s finance minister is looking at cutting a capital gains tax easement known as business asset disposal relief in her spending plan on Oct. 30. The policy allows entrepreneurs to pay a reduced tax of 10% on profits they make from the sale of their companies, rather than the standard 20% levy for higher-rate taxpayers.

Argentina lost a bid at the U.K. Supreme Court to hear its appeal on a ruling that would force the South American nation to pay $1.5 billion in damages to holders of the country’s growth-linked bonds, Bloomberg News reported. In an order signed Monday, the U.K.’s top court refused to hear an appeal over payments to hedge funds including Palladian Partners LP. The holders of those notes argued the losses were a result of a change by a previous Argentine government in how it calculated gross domestic product.