Around the World in 47 Seconds

🇬🇧 The UK is about to have an expensive winter. British energy bills will increase a record 80% to reach an average of 3,549 pounds ($4,188) a year from October, the country’s regulator said on Friday. This comes on top of a 54% hike in April – which at the time was a record increase.

🇨🇳🤝🇺🇸 Compromise, achieved: The US and China have reached a landmark agreement allowing US accounting regulators to access audits of Chinese companies listed on American exchanges. Language of the deal wasn’t made public, but it should halt the threatened delisting of Chinese stocks currently trading on Wall Street. As of March this year, there were 261 Chinese companies listed in the US, with a combined market value of roughly $1.3 trillion, according to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

🇩🇪 The Ozarks Germany is cracking down on money laundering. The country announced the formation of a new agency that, according to Finance Minister Christian Lindner, will aim to reverse the country’s “reputation as a money laundering paradise.” Per Deutsche Welle, cash still plays a key role in commerce and major purchases, and German businesses have a “cash-based culture.” Germany has also consistently resisted international regulations imposing a €5,000 limit on cash business transactions.

+Also kinda Germany-related… A German-Peruvian socialite who partied with NATO officials in Naples was revealed to be a Russian spy, per European newspapers La Repubblica and Der Spiegel.