6  International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Update: Subdued Growth, Diminished Prospects, Action Needed, January 2016  4  The UK7 referendum was the next major event, where the outcome was somewhat of a surprise. The decision to leave the European Union (also known as Brexit) prompted a strong negative reaction from UK financial markets, at least initially.
In other parts of the world, financial markets took the news in their stride, bar a few knee-jerk reactions.