Brexit will come at a cost for the UK financial-services industry, no matter what agreement the government secures in its negotiations with the European Union, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the Irish Times reported. Banks may be hit hard if Britain loses single-market access as companies would lose passporting rights that allow them direct access to clients in the EU, the London-based research group said in a report published on Wednesday.

The Bank of England has acted. Next up, the U.K. treasury, The Wall Street Journal reported. Economists say that new treasury chief Philip Hammond may need to relax a longtime spending squeeze or cut taxes to counter signs of a slowdown since voters’ surprise decision to exit the European Union. The BOE cut its benchmark interest rate to a historical low on Thursday and restarted bond purchases in an unexpectedly broad package of measures, reflecting its deep concerns over the potential cost of Brexit. In announcing sharply lower growth forecasts, Gov.

The Bank of England’s interest-rate cut Thursday buoyed stock markets here, but for some big British corporations, the move—the central bank’s first rate cut in seven years—is likely to translate into widening pension shortfalls, The Wall Street Journal reported. Many of the U.K.’s defined-benefit plans, which promise to pay out fixed benefits to retirees, have fallen deep into deficit. The value of contributions in many of the plans hasn’t kept up with expected outlays to pensioners in years to come.

There is an “evens” chance of Britain falling into recession by the end of next year, according to a leading economic think-tank, which called on the Bank of England to wield a “sledgehammer” against the expected downturn, the Financial Times reported. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research revised down its forecast for growth by 0.3 percentage points in 2016 and 1.7 percentage points in 2017 — larger downgrades than those made by the International Monetary Fund last month.

The Bank of England's stress tests are "worse than useless", according to a report claiming British banks would buckle under the strain of a major economic shock, BT.com reported. A study by the Adam Smith Institute said the Bank's stress tests are like a "ridiculously easy exam with a ludicrously low pass rate", which disguises the ability of UK banks to cope with an economic blow on the scale of the 2008 financial crisis. The report, which pinpoints 13 flaws in the stress test, said every single UK lender would currently fail "more rigorous" stress tests by the US Federal Reserve.

Britons’ vote to exit the EU is reverberating through its economy, with mixed effects. Some signs are already pointing to a slowdown, at least in the immediate weeks following the vote. Financial information firm IHS Markit Ltd. said on Monday its July purchasing managers index for the manufacturing sector fell to its lowest level since 2013, the latest in a series of gloomy economic signposts, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Banks have warned regulators that Britain’s exit from the EU could undermine work they are doing to hive off their retail banking operations from more risky investment banking activities, the Financial Times reported. Executives at several banks, including Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, have asked regulators at the Bank of England for clarification on the potential fallout from Brexit for their ringfencing plans.

Retail tycoon Philip Green's greed and disregard for corporate governance led to the demise of BHS and cost 11,000 jobs, a report by British lawmakers said, calling the collapse of the stores group "the unacceptable face of capitalism", Reuters reported. Billionaire Green, 64, owned BHS for 15 years before he sold the loss-making 180-store chain to Dominic Chappell, a serial bankrupt with no retail experience, for one pound last year. It went into administration in April, and all remaining 114 stores are due to close in the next four weeks.

New and increased government insolvency fees introduced yesterday will undermine the UK insolvency regime and cost creditors £8m per year, R3 has warned, according to Accountancy Age today. By threatening creditor returns, the government could undermine the UK’s World Bank insolvency ranking, the insolvency trade body said. Among other new fees, the government is introducing a fee of £6,000 in every compulsory liquidation or bankruptcy, even when the case is handled by a private sector insolvency practitioner rather than the government’s official receiver.

The English Court has recently considered who can be recognized as “foreign representatives” under the Cross-Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 (CBIR) in the case of Re 19 Entertainment Limited, about a US company in chapter 11, the National Law Review reported yesterday.