"I've been calling for an independent regulator … to bring checks and balances in place to stop this happening. It's pure greed," Gary Neville, former Manchester United and England footballer said, reacting to news of a breakaway football league. 

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Patrick Atack,

Digital business correspondent

UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has launched a new "task force" to explore creating a digital sterling in response to the rise of cryptocurrencies. The group will focus on a "potential central bank digital currency" but the policy extends to the backing of new private sector firms working on blockchain technology. 

European football has been thrown into chaos by a "breakaway" bid from 12 top clubs, backed by $6 billion in debt finance from New York banking institution JPMorgan. AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have agreed to join a new European Super League.

The rupee has fallen dramatically since the start of April, and with COVID-19 case numbers showing no sign of dropping anytime soon [New Delhi has been put in a new lockdown and UK PM Johnson has cancelled a trip this week], the outlook is not good. "All this will have a spiralling effect," analyst Navneet Damani told the Financial Times. 

Global household savings have risen by $5.4 trillion since the start of the pandemic, according to estimates by ratings agency Moody's. The sum is a calculation of additional savings – on top of the average 2019 levels. It's hoped the bulging pockets and increasing consumer confidence will lead to a speedy high street bounce-back. 

Dutch bank ABN Amro has settled an anti-money laundering case with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service for $577m. An investigation found the bank's anti-laundering process to have "serious shortcomings" between 2014 and 2020. The affair is far from settled, however, as prosecutors named three executives as suspects in a criminal case, including Chris Vogelzang CEO of the Danish Danske Bank, until the news broke and he resigned. 

China will maintain necessary support for economic recovery and implement targeted structural tax cuts and other measures to consolidate its growth momentum, the National Development and Reform Commission pledged.

Despite being hard hit by COVID-19, Asia's economies have recovered well compared with the rest of the world. However, there remain challenges in maintaining sustainable development, according to two reports released by the Bo'ao Forum for Asia (BFA). In 2020, the economic growth rate of Asian economies dropped 1.7 percent, down 5.7 percent from 2019, 3 percent higher than that of advanced economies.

Lithium prices have soared 70 percent already in 2021 and two leading mining firms are hoping to merge in a $3.1 billion agreement. Orocobre and Galaxy Resources, both Australian-listed companies, would create the fifth largest lithium mining operation in the world. The boom in the mineral's attractiveness is due to its use in electric vehicle batteries. 

On the other side of the mining world, Rio Tinto's copper chief Bold Baatar was quizzed by politicians in his native Mongolia over payments the company made to influential officials and business people in the country. The questions relate to an abuse of power scandal, which has embroiled the country's former prime minister. 

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Watch: After construction works for Tesla's "gigafactory" in Germany were halted in December over concerns for the local hibernating lizard and snake populations, environmental groups are opposing the new plant, saying it will drain the region's already scarce water supply.

China and the U.S. have agreed to cooperate on implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement, with a rare joint statement. Isobel Hilton of China Dialogue explained how significant this news is. 

[It's] definitely a significant pledge … this is a significant meeting because it's six years after Paris. And this was the moment when everybody promised to come back and raise their ambition.

Is it enough?

The pledges in Paris take us to something over 3 degrees [Celsius] of warming. We know it's not safe to go beyond 1.5. That's the gap we have to fill. And that can be filled only when the big emitters make really serious commitments to early cuts and serious cuts. Now, China has pledged 2060 carbon neutrality. That's fine. But the 2030 pledge, I think people were hoping [for]. It's really important that between now and December … big emitters put on the table a serious promise to cut.

What about developing economies?

At this point … the choices countries make for their energy futures are absolutely critical. And what they need is partly finance, but actually more than that, they need technical support because to build a renewables grid, which is a different proposition from building a conventional fossil fuel grid.