The former finance boss of Carillion, a British construction services giant that imploded in 2018, has been banned from holding company directorships for 11 years in a tough censure reserved for severe breaches of duties, lawyers said, Reuters reported. Zafar Khan, who stepped down as Carillion's finance director after just nine months in the job shortly before the business collapsed in January 2018, had voluntarily agreed to the disqualification, the Insolvency Service said on Monday.

From Melbourne to Manchester to Miami, people are struggling under the weight of hefty price increases for the things they buy each day, the New York Times reported. The worst spike in inflation that many advanced economies have seen in decades underscores the global forces driving prices higher, namely the disruptions set in motion by the coronavirus pandemic. The stakes are high for policymakers around the world, who are facing similar problems.

European hedge funds have reduced their exposure to U.S. banks at a fast pace since the beginning of the year, while roughly keeping their positioning in European banks, Goldman Sachs said in a recent report sent to clients, Reuters reported. Overall, shares in European banks are outperforming U.S. peers as they did not face a deposit flight as happened in the U.S. The STOXX Europe 600 Banks index is up roughly 8% this year, while the Dow Jones U.S. Banks index is down 9%.

Germany plans to slash social benefits and rein in government debt but increase the amount spent on the military in 2024, according to a federal budget approved Wednesday by the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the New York Times reported. The proposed package foresees spending 445.7 billion euros ($485 billion) next year, down about 6 percent from this year, while taking on just €16.6 billion in fresh debt, a considerable cut of more than 50 percent.

Casino shares fell as much as 40% on Wednesday after the cash-strapped French retailer said the injection of new capital that would result from two rival offers to rescue the group meant that existing shareholders would be wiped out, Reuters reported. Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is leading a 1.35 billion-euro investment plan to rescue Casino, details of the two offers released after the market close on Tuesday showed, dwarfing a rival proposal backed by telecoms maverick Xavier Niel.