According to @ReutersBiz, Close Brothers’ annual profit beat analyst estimates despite an ongoing UK motor finance probe, indicating consensus outperformance amid regulatory scrutiny (source: Reuters Business). Reuters Business highlights that the performance came even as the lender faces a motor finance investigation tied to its auto-lending activities (source: Reuters Business). For cross-asset context, banking-sector headlines have historically influenced broader risk appetite, with Bitcoin rising during the March 2023 banking turmoil as reported by Reuters (source: Reuters, March 2023).