LONDON (AP) — The Latest on Britain’s historic vote to leave the European Union (all times local):

Updated 3:30 p.m.: U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has promised to “work closely with both London and Brussels and our international partners to ensure continued economic stability, security, and prosperity in Europe and beyond.”

In a statement released Friday following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, Lew said he has been consulting for weeks with finance officials and investment firms in the United Kingdom, Europe and around the world.

He said: “The U.K. and other policymakers have the tools necessary to support financial stability, which is key to economic growth.”

Stock markets and the pound have plunged amid investor concerns about the economic repercussions of Britain’s departure from the EU, the world’s largest economic bloc.

Updated 2:30 p.m.: Malta is offering to help smooth Britain’s path out of the EU when the Mediterranean island nation assumes the rotating presidency of the European Union in January.

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat noted Friday at a news conference that Britain was due to take on the baton in July 2017.

Muscat says Maltese ministries had already made preparations in case Britain voted to leave the union. He says Malta is “in full gear” to take on an important role as part of exit negotiations which will take place under its presidency.

Updated 2:20 p.m.: Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite says she believes the European Union and Britain “will find a new way to live together.”

Grybauskaite says that “in the short term” the EU “will feel the consequences of this decision,” adding “it is our duty to restore people’s trust in the EU.”

Separately Friday, her Estonian counterpart Toomas Hendrik Ilves expressed hope that Britain’s decision to leave the bloc will strengthen cooperation between the remaining 27 EU member states.

Ilves said “personally, I hope that it will have a unifying effect on the EU27,” according to the Baltic News Service agency.

The three Baltic countries — Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia — joined the European Union after nearly five decades of Soviet occupation.

Updated 2:05 p.m.: The president of the European Council says the bloc is ready for quick talks on Britain’s exit, but that all EU regulations will apply to the nation until it fully leaves.

Donald Tusk said on Polish TVN24 Friday that “all laws and rules will apply as long as Britain is an EU member, and that will be years from now.”

The former Polish prime minister estimated the process will take about two years, after which Britain will be under its own laws and can seek to tighten immigration regulations.

He said he doesn’t expect the current or future British government to procrastinate over the opening of talks on a decision made by the nation.

Updated 2:00 p.m.: Britain’s Treasury Chief George Osborne has briefed Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

Osborne told his followers on Twitter that he contacted his counterparts in the world’s biggest economies after markets gyrated following the seismic decision. The comments come after a dramatic day in which Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney also promised that the institution would take any necessary steps to maintain fiscal and monetary stability.

Osborne said Friday the vote for a British exit, or Brexit, was “not the outcome I wanted,” but that he respects the decision of the British people.

He promised to “do all I can to make it work.”

Updated 1 p.m.: London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants Europeans living in the British capital to feel welcome in the city despite the result of the EU referendum.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Khan praised London’s “nearly one million European citizens” as hard-working, tax-paying residents contributing to civic and cultural life.

“You are welcome here. We value the enormous contribution you make to our city and that will not change as a result of this referendum,” Khan said.

“We all have a responsibility to now seek to heal the divisions that have emerged throughout this campaign — and to focus on what unites us, rather than that which divides us.”

Updated 11:40 a.m.: Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon says a new Scottish referendum on independence is “highly likely” because of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

She said Friday legislation will be prepared for a possible new vote. Independence was defeated two years ago in a Scottish referendum.

Sturgeon said she would do everything possible to keep Scotland inside the EU. She said this means another referendum “has to be on the table.”

Britain’s decision to leave the EU represents a substantial, material change in Scotland’s relations and could justify another independence vote, she said.

The Scottish leader also praised British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has said he will resign when a new party leader is chosen before October.

Updated 11:25 a.m.: Boris Johnson says the vote to leave the European Union gives Britons a “glorious opportunity” to take control.

He said Friday there is no need for haste in negotiations.

He said the vote means Britain will be able to set its own taxes and control its own borders.

“It was a noble idea for its time; it is no longer right for this country,” Johnson said of the EU.

He praised Prime Minister David Cameron as an “extraordinary politician” and said he is “sad” to see Cameron resign.

The former London mayor did not say Thursday if he plans to contend for the Conservative Party leadership.

Updated 11:15 a.m.: European Union leaders are warning Britain to leave the EU quickly and avoid prolonging uncertainty.

The presidents of the EU’s main institutions said in a statement Friday that they expect London to act on the decision to leave “as soon as possible, however painful that process may be.”

The four — EU Council President Donald Tusk, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, Parliament President Martin Schulz and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte — said that “any delay would unnecessarily prolong uncertainty.”

Prime Minister David Cameron has suggested that formal notification of Britain’s departure might not come before October.

Updated 10:40 a.m.: NATO’s chief says the British vote to leave the European Union shouldn’t affect its status as a reliable and key member of the U.S.-led military alliance.

“As it defines the next chapter in its relationship with the EU, I know that the United Kingdom’s position in NATO will remain unchanged,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday in a statement. “The U.K. will remain a strong and committed NATO ally, and will continue to play its leading role in our alliance.”

British voters’ decision on Thursday to exit the 28-nation European Union sent shockwaves through Europe and around the world.

“Today, as we face more instability and uncertainty, NATO is more important than ever as a platform for cooperation among European allies, and between Europe and North America,” Stoltenberg said. “A strong, united and determined NATO remains an essential pillar of stability in a turbulent world, and a key contributor to international peace and security.”

Updated 10:35 a.m.: The European Central Bank says it is “closely monitoring financial markets” in the wake of the British vote to leave the European Union.

The chief monetary authority for the 19 countries that use the euro currency says that it “stands ready” to provide additional credit to financial institutions if they need it to do business.

It also said it was staying in close contact with other central banks.

Otherwise the ECB did not immediately announce any new measures. The bank already provides short-term cheap credit to banks in any amount at regular intervals, and has pumped more cash into the system through a bond purchase program aimed at raising inflation.

The British vote shook up financial markets around the globe on Monday, leading to sharp falls in stocks and the British pound.

Updated 10:30 a.m.: Switzerland’s central bank says it has intervened in currency markets after the Swiss franc came “under upward pressure” following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

The Swiss National Bank says in a brief statement Friday that it intervened in the foreign exchange market to “stabilize the situation” and will “remain active in that market.”

The British referendum vote to leave the European bloc has caused turmoil in financial markets, driving many stock markets lower and currency exchanges reeling.

Joe Rundle, head of trading at ETX Capital, said in a note that the SNB move was aimed to “keep a lid on the franc after a flight to safety following the Brexit vote.”

He said many central banks “could be forced into taking drastic action to stem outflows.”

Updated 9:55 a.m.: Boos — and a few cheers — greeted former London Mayor Boris Johnson as he left his London home the morning after a historic vote to leave the European Union.

Johnson is one of the primary candidates to become prime minister after being the most prominent figure in the campaign to have the U.K. leave the single market

Dozens waited outside his north London home in anticipation that Johnson would speak. But he instead got into a cab to drive to Vote Leave headquarters.

Updated 9:40 a.m.: Scandinavian euroskeptic parties are rushing to suggest membership votes after British voters decided to leave the European Union.

In Sweden, which joined the European Union in 1995, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats wrote Friday on Twitter that “now we wait for #swexit!”

The Swedish Left Party suggested Sweden renegotiate its deal with the bloc but leader Jonas Sjostedt cautioned he first wants “to know what Britain’s new relationship with the EU looks like.”

Kristian Thulesen Dahl, head of the Danish People’s Party, said a referendum would be “a good democratic custom” while Pernille Skipper of the left-wing Unity List, called it “the only consequence of the British results.”

Denmark has opted out of parts of EU treaties for fear of losing sovereignty.

Neither Sweden nor Denmark plans a referendum.

Updated 9:30 a.m.: The leaders of some of Britain’s largest banks have issued statements to their customers underscoring that they will work tirelessly on their behalf in the unsettled times ahead following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

HSBC chair Douglas Flint says the country is entering a new era and that settling new trade deals with be complex and time-consuming.

But Flint says that “as one of the largest, most stable, liquid and prudent financial institutions in the world, HSBC is well-placed to support our customers and the markets as they deal with the challenges that will arise.”

The CEO of Barclays, Jes Staley, said many questions will be asked in the coming days about what happens next.

“We have stood in service of our customers and clients for over 325 years. We have been here for them through equally profound changes before,” Staley said.

Updated 9:25 a.m.: British Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to resign after losing the referendum vote will set off an intense Conservative Party leadership battle.

Cameron said Friday a new prime minister should be in place by the party conference in October.

Among the likely contenders are former London Mayor Boris Johnson and Justice Secretary Michael Gove, who both helped lead the “leave” campaign.

Other Cabinet members are likely to contend as well.

Updated 9:05 a.m.: European Parliament President Martin Schulz says the EU assembly will hold an emergency session next week following the U.K.’s decision to leave the bloc.

Schulz told reporters that the parliament would meet on Tuesday morning, ahead of a summit of EU leaders in Brussels where the Brexit vote will top the agenda.

He said the assembly must examine what steps to take next as Britain negotiates its departure, especially in light of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to leave office in October.

Updated 9 a.m.: Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney says the institution is prepared to deal with the market volatility that is under way following the Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

Carney says the bank has “engaged in extensive contingency planning” and he is in close contact with Treasury chief George Osborne.

Carney says that capital requirements for Britian’s largest banks are 10 times higher than before the start of the 2008 financial crisis.

He says the Bank of England has stress tested the banks “against scenarios more severe than the country currently faces.” Carney says UK banks have raised over 130 billion pounds of capital.

Updated 8:35 a.m.: Germany’s Foreign Ministry says it will host a meeting of the top diplomats from the original six founding nations of the European Union.

In a statement Friday, the ministry said the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg would meet Saturday in Berlin.

The ministry says the meeting is part of a long “tradition of talks between the six European founder nations” and that they will discuss “current European political topics.

Updated 8:25 a.m.: Prime Minister David Cameron says he will resign by the fall and insists the British people’s will must be respected after voters chose to leave the 28-nation European Union.

Cameron says there can be no doubt about the result of Thursday’s historic vote but that he is not the “captain” that will steer the ship through difficult negotiations with the EU.

He says he will resign by the time of the Conservative party conference in the fall.

British stocks are plunging as the market opens as investors scramble to react to the news. The pound has hit a 31-year low.

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