Banks in London that relocate operations to the euro zone after Brexit are likely to be spared a lengthy entry test by regulators, making it easier for them to shift, according to two officials with knowledge of the matter, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The European Central Bank, the euro zone's banking supervisor, has had many inquiries from British-based banks wanting to come under its watch, prompting it to look at fast-tracking licence applications, according to the sources.

Philip Hammond, Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, pledged to make the country “the best place to do business” in his Spring Budget, days ahead of the UK’s formal notification to Brussels of its intention to leave the EU, the Financial Times reported. Basking in better forecasts for the economy and public finances this year, Mr Hammond praised the resilience of the UK since the EU referendum. “Last year, the British economy grew faster than the United States, faster than Japan, faster than France,” he said.

U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced 435 million pounds ($530 million) of relief for small retailers and pubs struggling to cope with higher property taxes, though he faced immediate criticism that he’s not doing enough. Measures include a 300 million-pound fund that will enable local authorities to give discretionary relief to the hardest-hit, Bloomberg News reported.

For European leaders struggling to contain hostility to globalisation, few things can be as unwelcome as a cross-border takeover threatening mass lay-offs in a treasured industry, the Financial Times reported. When the industry in question is car making — so often a symbol of national pride or decline — the stakes are even higher. Yet despite the disquiet felt in Germany and the UK at PSA’s purchase of Opel, both countries need to accept the logic of consolidation in a sector where politicians have too often intervened to protect jobs at the expense of long-term competitiveness.

Tata Steel Ltd is still in talks with Germany's ThyssenKrupp AG about a potential merger of their European steel assets, the Indian company said on Monday. The statement was in response to reports in the British media on Sunday that India's largest steel company might be in the process of calling off a potential deal with the Germans, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The company is in "constructive discussions" with ThyssenKrupp, said Tata Steel.

Sir Philip Green has agreed a deal to pump as much as £50m a year into the pension fund behind his fashion business, Arcadia, to plug a growing deficit, just days after reaching a settlement over the BHS pension scandal, The Guardian reported. Arcadia, which controls Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, will double payments into its pension scheme from £25m a year to £50m this year, potentially heading off another pensions controversy.

A round of job cuts has been made at O2 to strengthen the British mobile network’s performance, as parent company Telefónica continues to weigh options for the business. About 5 per cent of the UK network’s 6,500 workforce left the company in the fourth quarter, triggering a restructuring charge of €38m, the Financial Times reported. O2’s operating income for the quarter rose 4 per cent to £324m, excluding the charge. The full-year figure was 1.7 per cent higher at £1.4bn.

At first glance, it is not obvious watching the cargo moving on and off the Leverkusen Express at the Port of Southampton that the container shipping industry has been contending with the biggest financial crunch in its 60-year history. Cranes lift boxes over the towering sides of the 367m long vessel, just as they did before a glut of ships and a slowdown in global trade sent freight rates tumbling. But on a closer look, there are signs of financial stress on the Southampton quayside, the Financial Times reported.

Tata steelworkers in the UK have voted to accept the closure of their £15bn pension fund, a historic sacrifice that brings the industry closer to resolving the crisis in British steel, the Financial Times reported. Thousands of trade union members backed a rescue package that Tata Steel offered its British operation, whose future came under threat after the Indian group threatened to quit the country last March. A key condition of the plan — aimed at saving thousands of jobs and maintaining production — was shutting the British Steel Pension Scheme to further contributions.

An investigation into the collapse of BHS could take as long as two years to determine whether any of the department-store chain’s former directors should be disqualified, the head of the Insolvency Service has said, while expressing “confidence” that the inquiry could be concluded “significantly” earlier, the Financial Times reported. The probe into BHS is consuming as much as one-tenth of the regulator’s resources, officials have previously disclosed.