Bailey Criticized, BOJ’s Virus Aid, U.S. Shutdown Risk: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Friday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day and send you into the weekend:

• Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey was criticized over his tenure running Britain’s financial watchdog, which missed the signs of a scandal and potential fraud that cost retail investors millions of pounds
• Britain’s chief Brexit negotiator warned progress in the talks has been “blocked and time is running out” to reach an agreement. Meanwhile, Britain’s biggest business lobby called on the EU to delay introducing new customs checks after Brexit because firms couldn’t prepare amid the pandemic
• U.S. Democrats notched a small win in their bid to prove there’s legal authority for Federal Reserve emergency lending programs to extend past the end of the year
• A surge in coronavirus cases forced Boris Johnson’s government to put two-thirds of England under the tightest pandemic rules and extend emergency help for companies facing collapse
• The Bank of Russia looks set to keep interest rates at 4.25% at a third consecutive policy meeting as inflation continued to increase above target
• For all the talk of economic decoupling between China and the U.S. and its allies, foreign companies continue to pour money into the Asian nation
• The Bank of Japan pledged to assess the sustainability of its easing policy and extended its special support programs for pandemic-hit businesses, just hours after data showed consumer prices fell at the fastest pace in a decade
• Jobless claims in the U.S. jumped unexpectedly to a three-month high, with Washington still embroiled in stimulus debates and potentially headed for a weekend shutdown
• In a stark illustration of inequality, residents scavenge bottles for $10 a day just steps away from Seoul’s glitzy Gangnam district. An unlikely alliance is pushing for a policy change
• The World Bank has corrected some ease-of-doing-business rankings after a probe of altered data for the popular metric, revising scores for countries including China

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