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The European Commission has proposed allowing firms to set up in as little as 48 hours and operate according to a ‌single set of rules across the 27-nation bloc, in an attempt to to cut bureaucracy across the single market and narrow the gap with the startup scene in the United States. "We need to incentivise companies to stay in Europe and encourage those who once looked elsewhere to return,” ‌European Commissioner ⁠Michael McGrath said. "Europe has the talent, ideas, and ambition - but too often, bureaucracy drives our best entrepreneurs elsewhere." Unions are however sceptical of the plan, warning that it may lead to employees losing influence within their companies. In the past, concerns regarding workers’ rights have led to the failure of similar proposals, EurActiv notes.

 

Tech.eu

EurActiv

Reuters

In a warning against easing bank regulations, European Central Bank supervisor ​Claudia Buch has said financial markets are underpricing geopolitical risks, increasing the potential for sudden sell-offs. "These guardrails need to ⁠be maintained as geopolitical tensions rise," Buch said in ​the ECB's annual supervision report. "Fragmentation or any weakening of ​standards could undermine banks’ ability to withstand adverse developments." Reuters notes that the U.S. has for the past year been relaxing bank rules, putting pressure on regulators elsewhere as local ​lenders say they could face an uneven playing field if ​they do not do likewise.

 

Reuters

The Bank of England has rejected calls to speed up its inaugural stress test of the private credit industry despite concerns about potential systemic risks. In a letter to the House of Lords' Financial Services and Regulation Committee, Bank governor Andrew Bailey reaffirmed the original timeline, saying officials "want to be mindful of the constraints of participating firms." He wrote: "We anticipated having largely completed the firm engagement and analysis for the exercise in 2026, with a final report to be published in early 2027." The committee had urged the Bank to accelerate the process, having warned that there was insufficient data on the industry to establish the risks associated with it.

 

City AM

Google has said it is developing new ​search controls to let websites specifically opt out of its generative AI features, as ‌the company moved to address the concerns of the Competition and Markets Authority, Britain's competition regulator, about its dominance in search services. Reuters reports that Google has also proposed "a less intrusive" switch in a user's device settings to make it ​easier to change the default search engine, rather than frequent pop-ups, which it said would ​annoy users.

 

PYMNTS.com

Reuters

UK government figures believe they have detected a pattern of freedom of information requests relating to the UK’s security, raising suspicions that China may be behind a significant proportion of them.

 

Financial Times

HSBC is considering deep job cuts that could ultimately affect around 20,000 ‌roles, or about 10% of its total workforce, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Non-client facing roles in global service ​centres are among those expected to be the most impacted as ⁠the bank bets on AI, although the assessment is at ​an early stage and no final decisions have been made. A spokesperson for HSBC declined to comment. A Bloomberg Intelligence report published last year said global banks could eliminate as many as 200,000 positions in the next three to five years due to AI. Chief information and technology officers surveyed for the report indicated that on average they expect a net 3% reduction in workforce.

 

Bloomberg

Dutch lender ING has said it plans to reduce its global workforce by approximately 1,250 operational roles this year. The cuts will mainly affect teams involved in customer research and related functions. In a forecast submitted to the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), the Amsterdam-headquartered bank indicated it could cut up to 950 jobs in the Netherlands, although the exact number of Dutch positions affected remains unclear. Globally, ING employs over 60,000 people. ING said it aims to leverage technology to manage higher workloads without proportionally increasing staff or costs.

 

NL Times

DutchNews.nl

Lloyd's of London has officially abandoned its Blueprint Two project, a plan to digitise the insurance market on a single cloud platform. Chief executive Patrick Tiernan said the initiative, launched in 2020, had not delivered the expected benefits. The decision could result in a £300m write-off. meanwhile, Lloyd's has reported a 10% rise in pre-tax profits to £10.6bn for 2025. Gross written premiums increased 4% to £57.9bn.

 

The Times

Ikea owner Ingka has announced plans to cut 800 jobs as part of a strategy to streamline operations. The move aims to accelerate decision-making and shift more responsibility to frontline staff. The job cuts will primarily impact employees in Sweden and at the company's headquarters in the Netherlands. Ingka employs around 166,000 people globally. 

 

The Times

UK firms fined for underpaying staff The UK's Department for Business and Trade has identified almost 400 firms that have been underpaying employees. The department released a list of 389 firms that have been forced to repay about 60,000 employees a total of £7.3m (€8.4m) in unpaid wages. The firms were fined a total of £12.6m for paying staff less than the statutory minimum, with fines capped at double the amount owed to workers. Peter Kyle, the business secretary, said: "A good employer doesn't build their business on the back of unpaid wages, and I look forward to working with the new Fair Work Agency to ensure its powers are used to crack down on those who think the rules don't apply to them." Employment Rights Minister Kate Dearden added: "Nobody should finish a week's work and find they've been paid less than they've earned." 

 

The Times

French streaming service Deezer says streams of AI-generated music on its platform were dominated by fraudsters, who upload and then repeatedly listen to thousands of songs to generate royalty payments.

 

Financial Times

New Dutch premier Rob Jetten says his country would return to playing an “active” role driving the EU’s policy agenda, as well as acting as a “bridge builder” between big powers.

 

Financial Times

The United Arab Emirates is expected to show flexibility on tax residency rules for expatriates who left the country due to the Iran conflict, aiming to encourage their return and protect its appeal as a low-tax hub. Authorities are likely to allow more time abroad without jeopardizing tax status, particularly for Dubai, which relies heavily on wealthy foreign residents. Currently, expats must spend a minimum number of days in the UAE to qualify for tax residency, but officials are considering case-by-case exemptions, taking into account travel disruptions and force majeure conditions. The move comes as ongoing conflict, flight cancellations, and security concerns have made it harder for residents to return, raising the risk they could lose their tax advantages.

 

IFA Magazine

Financial Times