September 2026
All columns and Brief analyses.
10 results
The Bank of England holds 3.75 per cent and pauses gilt sales
The Monetary Policy Committee left Bank Rate at 3.75 per cent at the meeting that ended on 16 September, with three members preferring 4 per cent. It voted unanimously to reduce the monetary-policy gilt stock to zero by the end of 2034. Global Banking and Finance Review's Instant View said UK government bond prices rallied after the hold and the halt to gilt sales, with sterling down 0.1 per cent on the day at 1.3362 dollars.
The EU KIDS Act would keep chatbots off for children by default
The European Commission's 17 September KIDS Act FAQ says AI companions and chatbots for minors may not simulate human relationships in ways likely to create emotional dependency, may not carry a child's earlier chats into later ones by default, and may be used by under-13s only through parental controls. WIRED, working from a draft of the same proposal, says ChatGPT, Character.ai and Snapchat's My AI sit in range and that platforms could face fines of up to 6 percent of worldwide turnover.
The House passed the Ratepayer Protection Act 417 to 3
Clerk roll call 312 on H.R. 9340 passed 417-3. Deseret News said the bill targets data centers of at least 100 megawatts. Roll Call said states must consider, not adopt, the PURPA standards, and named the three no votes.
The male fly's complete neural map landed, and became an internet toy within days
Every connection in the brain and central nervous system of an adult male fruit fly has been mapped for the first time: more than 166,000 neurons. Days after release the map was running in Minecraft, Doom and Beat Saber clips. A neuroscientist who examined them says most close no loop from sensing to moving.
The SEC opens a five-year path for tokenized US stocks
CNBC reports a Thursday Commission order branded the Innovation Exemption: five years, in force at once, covering some tokenized US equities. Token holders keep dividend and voting entitlements; an issuer may object within 30 days; volume caps apply. Chair Paul Atkins linked the step to the Clarity bill stalling in the Senate two days earlier.
The US denied Abbas a visa for UN week in New York
Two Palestinian sources told the BBC that Mahmoud Abbas was denied an entry visa for next week's General Assembly. The State Department said it would extend visa denials for PLO members and PA officials, blocking Abbas from New York for a second year. The assembly is expected to vote on Thursday on whether he may speak by video. That is a diplomatic access fight, not a ruling on the Headquarters Agreement.
THF participation-share redemptions went into default
Tera Portföy filed two notices with KAP on the evening of 16 September: at 20.28 for the money-market fund TP2 and at 20.35 for the equity fund THF, each saying unit-redemption payments had gone into default. The next morning the Capital Markets Board halted TEFAS trading in the funds of seven managers, Tera among them.
Trump threatens EU tariffs over a Canada associate-member plan
In North Carolina Trump called an EU associate-member idea for Canada laughable and said Canada has been a terrible trade partner. He told reporters that a hostile reading could bring very serious tariffs or a stop to trading with Europe. Associate membership is not a formal EU treaty category. Brussels had not said whether it would proceed after the threat.
Turkey closes seven managers' TEFAS funds to trading and sends 130 into liquidation
Turkey's Capital Markets Board closed every fund of seven portfolio managers traded on TEFAS, the country's fund platform, to buy and sell orders, and the 130 funds named in its bulletin will be wound up by a method the Board determines. The order came a day after the Tera and Pusula redemption defaults this desk reported.
UN experts treat the Minab school strike as a US war crime
An independent UN-backed fact-finding mission says it has reasonable grounds to believe US forces were behind a strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab and a sports-centre strike. Iranian officials put the Minab dead at more than 150 people, including around 120 schoolchildren. Those are the mission's findings for the Human Rights Council, not a court judgment. The Trump administration has not accepted blame, ABC News notes.