Reuters UK Business

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The Netherlands and Britain plan to build what would be Europe’s biggest cross-border electricity link connected to an offshore wind farm, their energy ministers said on Monday, part of efforts to boost energy security. The “LionLink” interconnector will be able to transfer 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of power to Britain from a Dutch …

UK, Netherlands plan cross-border power link to boost energy security Read More »

By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s financial watchdog on Monday set out guidance on stress testing and risk management for liability driven investment (LDI) funds, saying it was a ‘matter of urgency’ to implement them. Last September’s near meltdown in the sector, when yields on UK government bonds rocketed following a government budget statement, …

UK watchdog tells LDI funds to stress test buffers for market shocks Read More »

(Reuters) – Russian lender Sberbank said on Monday it had released technology called GigaChat as a rival to ChatGPT, initially in an invite-only testing mode, joining the artificial intelligence chatbot race. The release last year of ChatGPT, a chatbot from the Microsoft-backed startup OpenAI, has caused a sprint in the technology sector to put AI …

Russia’s Sberbank releases ChatGPT rival GigaChat Read More »

By Giuseppe Fonte ROME (Reuters) – Italy plans contested legislation that will make it easier for firms to hire workers on short-term contracts, as part of a set of measures aimed at boosting jobs and families’ purchasing power, including tax cuts for middle- and low- income workers. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has convened a cabinet …

Italy plans looser rules on short-term jobs, tax cuts on wages Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) – France’s central bank governor François Villeroy de Galhau has pushed back against recent criticism of central banks’ increasing involvement in the fight against climate change, calling it a “must have” focus. “Climate-related risks are clearly among the long-term risks to which financial institutions are exposed: monitoring these risks is not a ‘nice …

Climate change fight a ‘core duty’ for central banks – ECB’s Villeroy Read More »

By Maria Martinez BERLIN (Reuters) -German business morale rose slightly in April due to an improvement in companies’ expectations, adding to positive signs as Europe’s largest economy hopes to have dodged a winter recession, a survey showed on Monday. The Ifo institute said its business climate index stood at 93.6 following a revised reading of …

German business sentiment improves slightly in April Read More »

By Shubham Batra (Reuters) – European shares were subdued on Monday as investors await more economic data this week and earnings from some of the highest-valued U.S. companies, along with major European banks and consumer companies. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was flat as of 0825 GMT, with oil and gas shares falling the most …

European shares muted ahead of busy earnings week Read More »

LONDON (Reuters) – Investor advisory firm PIRC on Monday recommended that BP shareholders vote against the company’s chair over climate concerns and in favour of a climate activist resolution at the energy group’s annual general meeting on Thursday. Major investor advisers ISS and Glass Lewis have recommended BP shareholders oppose the climate resolution filed by …

PIRC recommends vote for BP climate activist resolution Read More »

By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) – Issuing “catastrophe bonds” and setting up public-private partnerships could help plug the “insurance gap” to better cover damage from climate change, a discussion paper from the European Central Bank and European Union insurance regulators said on Monday. Only a quarter of EU climate-related catastrophe losses are insured, creating risks …

EU regulators set out ideas to plug climate ‘insurance gap’ Read More »

By Bart H. Meijer AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Philips shares jumped 13% on Monday as the Dutch health technology company reported much better than expected first-quarter results and said it had set aside 575 million euros ($631 million) related to lawsuits over its recall of respiratory devices. Amsterdam-based Philips has been grappling with the fallout of the …

Philips shares jump on recall provision and profit improvement Read More »