The Bank of England cut interest rates from a 16-year high on Thursday after a narrow vote in favour from policymakers divided over whether inflation pressures had eased sufficiently, Reuters reported. Governor Andrew Bailey - who led the 5-4 decision to lower rates by a quarter-point to 5% - said the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee would move cautiously going forward. "We need to make sure make sure inflation stays low, and be careful not to cut interest rates too quickly or by too much," he said in a statement alongside the decision.

The Czech Republic’s central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate for the sixth time in a row as inflation falls and the economy recovers more slowly than expected, the Associated Press reported. The cut, which had been predicted by analysts, brought the interest rate down by a quarter of a percentage point, to 4.50%. The bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, the first cut since June 22, 2022. Further cuts of half a percentage point each time followed on Feb. 8, March 20, May 2 and June 27.

Mohari Hospitality Ltd is in exclusive talks to purchase Venice’s five-star Hotel Bauer, beating other bidders including billionaire Bernard Arnault, Bloomberg News reported. Mohari is offering to buy the property, located on the Grand Canal, for €309 million ($335 million). Established by former PokerStars co-founder Mark Scheinberg, the company focuses on luxury properties and its existing European investments include the five-star Four Seasons hotel in Madrid.

A Montenegrin appeals court on Thursday upheld a ruling by a lower court to hand over a South Korean mogul known as “the cryptocurrency king” to his native country, rejecting a bid to extradite him to the United States, the Associated Press reported. The move follows a months-long legal saga in the case of Do Kwon, the Terraform Labs founder who was arrested in Montenegro last year. Both South Korea and the U.S. had requested Do Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro. Various Montenegrin courts in the past months have brought and overturned multiple rulings to extradite Kwon either to U.S.

Car seat manufacturer Recaro Automotive has filed for bankruptcy, Autocar reported. The German firm, which supplies major brands including BMW, Ford and Volkswagen, was yesterday approved for self-administration by the Esslingen District Court. Local reports suggest that employees hadn't been informed that it would be filing for bankruptcy.

Thames Water may be put into a special turnaround regime within months, a process that could lead to the break up of Britain’s largest water company, Bloomberg News reported. The industry’s chief regulator is considering accelerating its so-called Turnaround Oversight Regime, to try to prevent the collapse of the debt-laden utility. The regulator will closely monitor Thames, which is in crisis after shareholders halted new equity injections in March and its parent company defaulted on its debts.

Banca Generali SpA won a U.K. court ruling in a dispute arising out of €344 million ($373 million) worth of securitizations it bought from a trade finance firm, Bloomberg News reported. The Italian wealth manager has the power to remove and replace CFE Advisory Services as the agent in charge of dealings with the noteholders, the UK’s Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday. The wealth manager, representing the senior noteholders, was in a dispute with issuer Sovereign Credit Opportunities SA and CFE over attempts to appoint its own agent.

Inflation unexpectedly heated up in the eurozone this month, presenting a fresh challenge to policymakers looking for signs that eurozone price rises are easing sustainably, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices were 2.6% higher on year in July, picking up pace from in June, according to EU figures released Wednesday. That defied economists’ expectations for a slight decrease in inflation over the month, and leaves the rate further from the European Central Bank’s elusive 2% target.

At the end of last week, Priogo AG filed an application for the opening of insolvency proceedings with the responsible district court in Bonn, PV-Magazine.com reported. The judges appointed lawyer Franz Zilkens from the Voigt Salus law firm as provisional insolvency administrator, as noted in the public announcement. The reason for the bankruptcy application has been the extremely difficult market situation since the middle of last year, sources told pv magazine. There is strong competition in the region, which affects not only PV installations, but also the heating industry.

German inflation accelerated in July, evidence that may add to the European Central Bank’s caution as it moves toward further interest-rate cuts, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 2.6% from a year earlier in July, up from 2.5% the previous month. Analysts polled by Bloomberg had predicted the pace to remain stable. While energy costs eased less than in June, food price pressures increased and services remained stable. A separate report earlier showed Spanish inflation slowing more than predicted. Readings for France, Italy and the euro area are due on Wednesday.