PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - June 19

- The British government will abandon its coronavirus contact-tracing app - designed by NHSX, the health service's innovation arm - in favour of a new model, based on Apple and Google technology, which will not be ready until the autumn at the earliest. - The Bank of England voted to pump an additional 100 billion pounds ($124.13 billion) into the UK economy on Thursday while simultaneously moving to slow the pace of asset purchases as financial markets were more stable than in March.

The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines

- Wirecard says 1.9 billion euros of cash is missing https://on.ft.com/3efYQeD - Johnson and Macron back renewed effort to strike UK-EU trade deal https://on.ft.com/37Fcm98

- UK to replace contact-tracing app with Apple and Google model https://on.ft.com/2Nd44Mi - Bank of England boosts bond-buying by 100 billion pounds but slows the pace https://on.ft.com/3eapCVP

Overview - Wirecard's auditors warned that 1.9 billion euros ($2.13 billion) was missing from the German fintech group's accounts, causing its shares to crash more than 60% on Thursday and was told by EY that there were indications a trustee of Wirecard bank accounts had attempted "to deceive the auditor" and may have provided "spurious cash balances".

- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday agreed to step up efforts to secure a UK-EU trade deal, amid signs Britain could be open to a compromise which would see the country face tariffs if it undercut European regulations. - The British government will abandon its coronavirus contact-tracing app - designed by NHSX, the health service's innovation arm - in favour of a new model, based on Apple and Google technology, which will not be ready until the autumn at the earliest.

- The Bank of England voted to pump an additional 100 billion pounds ($124.13 billion) into the UK economy on Thursday while simultaneously moving to slow the pace of asset purchases as financial markets were more stable than in March. ($1 = 0.8928 euros) ($1 = 0.8056 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)