Reuters, citing an informed source, reported that Britain will not join the “defence, security and resilience” bank led by Canada; a decision that will put efforts to establish the first global defence bank under challenge.

However, Britain and Canada said they will create separate but complementary defence-financing mechanisms. The multilateral defence mechanism will focus on accelerating investment, financing joint purchases, and pooling the demand of NATO allies, while the defence bank will support defence industries and supply chains.

According to Reuters, the two countries did not reach agreement on issues including the location of the headquarters, joint purchases, loan provisions, and membership regulations.

With its headquarters in Canada, the bank intends to raise around €100 billion in capital. Canada, Albania, Belgium, Greece, Latvia, Luxembourg, Romania, Türkiye, and Ukraine have, so far, backed the plan. Germany has not yet joined it either and is still reviewing unresolved issues.