UK taxpayers will be on the hook for as much as £200 billion ($240 billion) of potential losses from the Bank of England’s quantitative easing program after the Treasury lodged plans to cover any future shortfall with parliament last week, Bloomberg News reported.

A new deal agreed between Britain and the European Union to amend the Northern Ireland Protocol will allow the Stormont assembly to stop EU laws applying in the province, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday, Reuters reported. "Many had called for Stormont to have a say over these laws. But the 'Stormont break' goes further and means that Stormont can in fact stop them from applying in Northern Ireland," Sunak told a news conference.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Union leader Ursula von der Leyen are set to hold face-to-face talks, with expectations high they will seal a deal to resolve a thorny post-Brexit trade dispute, the Associated Press reported. That would mark a breakthrough after months of bitter wrangling that has soured U.K.-EU relations, sparked the collapse of the Belfast-based regional government and and threatened to set back Northern Ireland's decades-old peace process. In a joint statement on Sunday the U.K.

In the space of just five years, a little-known company on the outskirts of London has grown into a payments-industry powerhouse, processing more than 1 billion euros ($1 billion) in transactions every month, Bloomberg News reported. Backed by licenses from regulators in the UK and Lithuania, Transactive Systems Ltd. touted itself as “one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in Europe,” with an ability to service clients from “compliance-intense industries” including cryptocurrencies, gambling and foreign-exchange trading, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg.

Shares of Cineworld slumped as much as 22% on Wednesday after media reports said the world's second-largest cinema operator had received 40 non-binding bids, but none for its UK and U.S. assets or nearing its $6 billion secured debt load, Reuters reported. The reports cited company counsel Joshua Sussberg's comments to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston on Tuesday, where he also said the initial bids received by a Feb. 16 deadline were all for the rest of Cineworld's global assets, mainly for theatres in central Europe, eastern Europe and Israel.

Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill signaled policy makers are ready to reduce the speed of their interest rate increases, saying there’s a risk of “overtightening” if the pace over the past few months is maintained, Bloomberg news reported. The official who sits on the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee also said the labor market has shown signs of loosening, a suggestion that upward pressure on inflation from pay rises may be easing.

The number of firms falling into insolvency increased in January against the same month last year, according to official figures, the Independent reported. Total company insolvencies in England and Wales hit 1,671 over the first month of 2023, the Insolvency Service said. It represented a 7% rise against January 2022 and was 11% above pre-pandemic levels from 2020. Experts said the rise pointed towards the toll of higher borrowing costs and continued elevated levels of inflation for businesses.

British inflation fell by more than expected in January and there were signs of cooling price pressure in parts of the economy watched closely by the Bank of England, adding to signs that further hefty interest rate hikes are unlikely, Reuters reported. Annual consumer price inflation (CPI) cooled to 10.1% last month, the lowest reading since September, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday.

Frederick Barclay, the reclusive tycoon who owes his former wife £100 million ($121 million), is discussing a financial settlement with her after being threatened with bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported. The 88-year-old is yet to pay a penny of the divorce award, according to a lawyer for Hiroko Barclay, who told a London court on Monday her legal team was left with little choice but to prepare a bankruptcy petition against the “completely unrepentant” tycoon. The settlement offer to end the divorce fight was made on Feb. 10, the same day as Frederick was set to meet his nephew Howard.

Britain's economy showed zero growth in the final three months of 2022 - enough for it to avoid entering a recession for now - but faces tough prospects in 2023 as households continue to wrestle with double-digit inflation, Reuters reported. Monthly gross domestic product data for December - when there were widespread strikes in the public sector, rail and postal services - showed a 0.5% contraction, the Office for National Statistics said, larger than the 0.3% forecast.