Around the world in 47 seconds

🇬🇧 The Bank of England pledged to buy gov’t bonds “on whatever scale is necessary.” Officials said the move is an attempt to slow the selloff of UK gov’t bonds – which began last week in response to new PM Liz Truss’ economic plan – that could lead to severe losses for many domestic pension funds and insurers. The UK’s 30-year government bond yield fell more than one full percentage-point in response to the central bank’s move (from 5+% before the announcement to 4.09%), a level of change that normally takes weeks or months, per the WSJ.

🇷🇺🇺🇦 The EU proposed new sanctions on Russia over its ‘sham’ referendums in Ukraine. The bloc’s executive branch announced the move yesterday, saying the sanctions would place an import ban on ~$7 billion worth of Russian goods, but offering few other specifics. Separately, the Biden administration unveiled $1.1 billion in additional military assistance for Ukraine, bringing the total US commitment to more than $16.2 billion across 22 installments since late February.

🇩🇪 Volkswagen priced Porsche’s IPO at the top end of its targeted range. The German automaker’s move raised ~$9.1 billion at a $73 billion valuation, representing the largest public debut in Europe since 2011. It also immediately ranked Porsche among the top-5 biggest automakers by market cap (Tesla: $886B | Toyota: $226B | BYD: $95B | VW: $83B). Volkswagen still retains a 75% ownership stake in Porsche, which begins trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange today; VW is expected to use the IPO windfall to reward shareholders and fund its EV push.