German automotive supplier Kiekert has applied for insolvency, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Two core businesses - Kiekert AG and Kiekert Holding GmbH - have initiated insolvency proceedings and Joachim Exner has been appointed as administrator on an interim basis, the document showed. Kiekert, which specialises in locking systems, has 4,500 employees in 11 locations, according to its website.

Confidence among German businesses fell back for the first time this year, according to a survey that adds to worrying signs for Europe’s most important economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Ifo Institute said on Wednesday that its business-climate index declined to 87.7 in September from 88.9 last month. That decrease breaks a streak of gradually improving sentiment among German companies unbroken since the start of 2025, and overturns economists’ expectations for a further uptick in the index.

French healthcare group Emeis, fresh off a 2024 rebrand from Orpea, is selling a chunk of its real estate business to Farallon Capital and TwentyTwo Real Estate – trimming nearly €700 million from its debt while staying in charge of its care homes, Finimize.com reported. Emeis is making a big shift in European healthcare real estate by splitting off its operated properties through a new partnership with Farallon Capital and TwentyTwo Real Estate. The deal means Emeis will surpass its asset sale goal by €300 million, with the two investors pledging €761 million by the end of 2025.

Chinese automakers are expanding in Europe, betting on their competitive pricing and advanced technology to break into a market traditionally dominated by European and American brands, amid a global shift towards electric vehicles, Reuters reported. This expansion has stoked trade tensions between Brussels and Beijing, including a row over EU tariffs on Chinese-made EVs, imposed to protect European producers. Read more

Sweden’s central bank cut its key policy rate to 1.75% Tuesday and suggested the move could mark the final monetary easing of the current cycle, the Wall Street Journal reported. Policymakers had left rates unchanged at its previous meeting but noted at the time that weak economic activity might prompt further rate cuts this year, especially as it put an uptick in inflation down to only temporary factors.

Business activity expanded in Europe this month, but at a level that suggests the wider economy is growing only slowly, the Wall Street Journal reported. The composite purchasing managers’ index for the eurozone, a gauge of private-sector activity across the 20 nations that share the euro, rose to 51.2 this month from 51.0 in August, reaching its highest level in 16 months. A reading above 50 on the index indicates expansion rather than contraction in activity compared with a month earlier. In services, activity expanded at its fastest rate this year, the surveys showed.

The governments of Britain and the United States will set up a body to reduce red tape for firms seeking to access capital markets on both sides of the Atlantic and improve cooperation on crypto assets, Britain's finance ministry said on Monday, Reuters reported. The Transatlantic Taskforce for Markets of the Future will report back within 180 days on ways to enhance collaboration in the short term and on longer-term options, including in wholesale digital markets, the Treasury said. Creation of the taskforce was approved by British finance minister Rachel Reeves and U.S.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has reduced the time it takes to approve crypto registration applications by 69% since 2023, although data from the regulator also show that there has been a 43.5% decline in applications over the past two years, Decrypt.com reported.

Euro zone economic growth continues to hold up as Germany's budget largesse props up sentiment and offsets turmoil in France, but more weakness may be ahead as U.S. tariffs start to exert their full effect, key data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The euro zone has been expanding quicker than economists had expected this year, sparking debate over whether the bloc is simply more resilient than thought and how much damage French political turmoil will do across the 20 nations.