EU proposal targets London finance

Tensions have played out in recent days in newspapers in Britain and on the Continent

European Union officials fired an opening salvo on Thursday in a “Brexit”-related dispute that could threaten London’s status as the undisputed financial capital of Europe and affect hundreds of trillions of dollars’ worth of financial products.

In the course of a series of proposed technical changes, the European Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation bloc, hinted that it may seek a more centralised role in supervising the complex financial contracts known as derivatives when they are denominated in euros. It also suggested that it could institute requirements that clearing houses, which act as middlemen in derivatives transactions, be located within