UK pension schemes are racing to raise hundreds of billions of pounds to shore up derivatives positions before the Bank of England calls time on support aimed at keeping them afloat.

The European Union's securities watchdog has asked Britain about recent extreme moves in UK government bond yields and is monitoring for "spillovers" into the bloc, its chair Verena Ross said on Monday.

Calls to the Bank of England saying some British pension funds were struggling to meet margin calls began on Monday. By Wednesday they were getting more urgent and coordinated.

The scale and speed of the sell-off in British assets has jolted world markets, raising concern about contagion as chaos in a major developed economy adds to unease already generated by sharp interest rate rises from the United States and elsewhere.

A temporary brake on gas and electricity derivatives when prices spike could improve how energy markets operate, the European Union's securities watchdog proposed on Thursday, along with more fundamental changes over time.

Expectations of more Federal Reserve tightening and economic worries are weighing on a rebound in consumer discretionary stocks, though some investors believe the sector will outperform other areas of the market if growth begins to wobble in coming months.

Europe's problems in sourcing oil and gas this winter after a dispute with Russia may be exacerbated by a new crisis in the market where prices are already red-hot: a liquidity crunch that could send them spiralling higher still.

Auction to be held on Russia debt default insurance

Rifts within Yemen's new presidential council are delaying approval of reforms needed to unlock $3 billion in financial aid from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates that would help ease a severe foreign exchange crunch, four sources said.

Insurance payments on defaulted Russia debt to move forward

Still uncertain on where U.S. stocks are headed, equity hedge funds are sitting out the market rally despite taking big paper losses on bearish bets since June, according to industry executives and market data.

It looks like Ethereum mega-upgrade is happening. Finally.

Ukraine's creditors vote this week on a government proposal to defer payments on the war-torn country's international bonds for 24 months as Kyiv hopes to swerve a $20 billion messy default.

State-owned Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) said four more banks had agreed to back its upcoming 2.5 billion euro ($2.6 billion) cash call.

Futures and options based on China's small-cap CSI 1000 Index started trading in Shanghai on Friday, spawning fresh products and strategies from fund managers seeking to capitalize on the new hedging instruments.

Norway's Equinor said on Thursday its second-quarter results would be positively impacted by between $400 million and $550 million from trade in natural gas derivatives used to hedge its physical deliveries.

The resignations -- after a succession of crises that led to a vote of confidence in Johnson's leadership -- did nothing to dampen speculation that both men still have an eye on the top job.

Banks should take a conservative approach to setting aside capital to cover risks from "unbacked" crypto assets on their books, the global Basel Committee of banking regulators said in proposals on Thursday which now also cover blockchain.

The financial sector should not bet on remaining deadlines changing for the phasing out of the use of Libor interest rates, Britain's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Wednesday.

Barclays Head of Macro Trading for EMEA and Asia Pacific, Nat Tyce, is leaving after more than 25 years, a staff memo seen by Reuters shows, after transforming the trading unit into one of the bank's highest-flying divisions.

Italy is studying measures to cut taxes on low- and middle-income workers and help families and firms cope with surging energy costs exacerbated by the Ukraine war, two government officials said.

Britain will begin live testing of crypto blockchain technology for traditional market activities such as trading and settlement of stocks and bonds next year as part of a drive to become a global "crypto hub", the finance ministry said on Tuesday.

Credit Suisse's top domestic rival UBS announced earlier this week that its exposure to Russia totalled $200 million

Financial services -- a key driver of the British economy -- were largely omitted from the last-minute Brexit trade deal agreed between London and Brussels in late December.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears eager to agree an acceptable alignment deal -- but does not want identical EU regulatory rules for political reasons.

Most CBD users take it for medical issues like orthopedic, psychiatric, and sleep conditions, which happens to be treated also by doctors using other methods.

Artemisia annua has been used in Chinese traditional medicine for over 2,000 years to treat fever,pain as well as malaria.

China-US tensions and a lack of progress in Washington stimulus talks -- all against the backdrop of the coronavirus -- were keeping markets from surging.

British and EU negotiators are making slow progress in working towards an agreement on future relations.

The new tariff will effectively tax all Chinese exports to the US, in addition to the 25% tariff imposed on $250 billion worth of goods last May.