The European Union's executive body said on Wednesday it has formally adopted a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) to allow financial regulators from Britain and the bloc to cooperate more closely, though stopping short of market access, Reuters reported. Britain has left the EU, largely severing its financial sector's previously unfettered access to the bloc. As part of Britain's Brexit terms with the bloc, the EU agreed to formalise cooperation between financial watchdogs, but it was put on hold by Brussels following disagreements between the bloc and Britain over Northern Ireland.

The UK government laid out a series of extra protections for tenants in the biggest shake-up of the private rental market for a generation, Bloomberg News reported. Under the Renters’ Reform Bill introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, the government will abolish the existing “section 21” provision allowing landlords to remove tenants via so-called no-fault evictions, according to a statement from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It will also give renters more power to challenge poor living standards without fear of losing their homes.

British chemicals producer Venator Materials Plc filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S., the company said in a court filing late on Sunday, Reuters reported. Venator has estimated both assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion, according to a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Satellite launch company Virgin Orbit is planning to move back the deadline for prospective bidders to buy its assets by a handful of days, Reuters reported. Virgin Orbit, founded by billionaire Richard Branson, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April after the company struggled to secure long-term funding following a failed satellite launch in January. Virgin Orbit went public two years ago at a valuation of roughly $3 billion, but the January mishap left the company scrambling for new funding and forced it to halt operations. U.S.

The Bank of England raised its key interest rate for the 12th consecutive time and signaled more increases are possible as it released less gloomy forecasts for the U.K. economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The central bank raised the rate to 4.5% from 4.25% on Thursday, having begun to tighten its monetary policy in December 2021 when borrowing costs stood at 0.1%. The key rate is now at its highest level since October 2008, while the cumulative move over 12 steps is the largest since the late 1980s.

Inflation expectations in Britain eased in April, bank Citi said on Monday, offering some relief to the Bank of England which is expected to announce a 12th straight interest rate hike next week with investors betting on further increases after that, Reuters reported. Citi said its monthly survey conducted by market research company YouGov showed public expectations for inflation in 12 months' time eased to 5.2% in April from 5.4% in March and expectations for five to 10 years ahead fell to 3.6% from 3.7%.

The number of companies declared insolvent in England and Wales in the first three months of 2023 was up 18% on a year earlier and remained close to the 13-year high recorded in the final quarter of 2022, government data showed on Friday, Reuters reported. Some 5,747 companies in England and Wales were declared insolvent in the first quarter of this year compared with 5,969 in the final quarter of 2022, which was the highest number since mid 2009, the seasonally adjusted figures showed.

Scotland’s businesses are still suffering from a “Covid hangover” with new figures showing the number of firms becoming insolvent has reached an 11-year high, the Independent reported. Corporate insolvences rose to 1,132 in 2022-23, with this up by almost a third (32.6%) on the previous year, new figures from the Accountant in Bankruptcy showed. The 2022-23 total is nearly a fifth (19.4%) higher than pre-pandemic, with 948 insolvencies recorded in 2019-20 – with an expert warning a “further wave of insolvencies is inevitable” unless economic circumstances improve “drastically”.

Shares in Itsarm PLC fell Wednesday after the company said that the likelihood it would be able to continue for a period longer than three months before becoming insolvent was low, MarketWatch.com reported. Shares at 1109 GMT were down 0.15 pence, or 32%, at 0.33 pence. The London-listed womenswear fashion brand said the board determined it would be in the best interests of the company and its shareholders to put forward a formal proposal for a members' voluntary liquidation, or MVL.

The UK received a record level of demand for debt that acts as protection against inflation, with concerns mounting that rising prices aren’t slowing down despite the Bank of England’s interest rate hikes, Bloomberg News reported. The £46 billion ($57 billion) order book for £4.5 billion of so-called inflation-linked notes sold on Wednesday was far bigger than any previous UK sale of similar debt tracked by Bloomberg. Data last week showed consumer prices in Britain accelerated 10.1% from a year ago, driven by the strongest increase in food costs in more than four decades.