UBS was considering the potential impact of buying struggling rival Credit Suisse as early as December, months before the takeover was hastily arranged by Swiss authorities in March, according to a regulatory filing, Reuters reported. The filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also showed UBS concluded in February that buying Credit Suisse was not desirable, but that it should prepare in case its rival encountered "serious financial difficulties".

Russia's economy contracted by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2023 in annual terms, the economy ministry estimated on Wednesday, down from growth of 3% in the same period last year, Reuters reported. The ministry estimated that gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.1% year-on-year in March, an improvement on a revised 2.9% drop in February. Russia's GDP is expected to rebound marginally this year from a 2.1% annual decline in 2022, the result of Western sanctions against Moscow after it despatched troops to Ukraine in February 2022.

The Czech central bank warned it may have to raise borrowing costs if home-grown inflation risks escalate, calling investors’ bets on monetary easing “premature.” The koruna gained, Bloomberg News reported. Policy makers kept the benchmark rate at 7% on Wednesday, but the vote was tighter than before, with three out of seven board members seeking a quarter-point increase. Governor Ales Michl said the current policy setting is already taming domestic demand, pointing to slowing credit growth and a cooling property market.

Underlying inflation in the euro area eased for the first time in 10 months, backing the case for the European Central Bank to slow the most aggressive interest-rate hiking campaign in its history later this week, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices stripping out volatile items like fuel and food costs rose 5.6% from a year ago in April — down from March’s record 5.7% advance and in line with the median estimate in a Bloomberg poll of economists. The headline inflation rate, meanwhile, ticked up to 7% — a touch more than the 6.9% analysts anticipated and still far above the 2% target.

Hundreds more Credit Suisse Group AG bondholders sued Switzerland’s banking regulator after their securities valued at about $1.7 billion were wiped out during the lender’s government-brokered takeover by UBS Group AG, Bloomberg News reported.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Tuesday rejected a plan by Economy Minister Robert Habeck to introduce an industrial electricity price, Reuters reported. Such a move would be "economically unwise" and it would contradict market principles to rely on direct state aid as a means to achieve industrial transformation, he wrote in a guest article published by business daily Handelsblatt. The ministry had planned to introduce a concept for industrial electricity pricing this week as part of government efforts to support transition away from fossil fuels.

Inflation expectations in Britain eased in April, bank Citi said on Monday, offering some relief to the Bank of England which is expected to announce a 12th straight interest rate hike next week with investors betting on further increases after that, Reuters reported. Citi said its monthly survey conducted by market research company YouGov showed public expectations for inflation in 12 months' time eased to 5.2% in April from 5.4% in March and expectations for five to 10 years ahead fell to 3.6% from 3.7%.

The number of companies declared insolvent in England and Wales in the first three months of 2023 was up 18% on a year earlier and remained close to the 13-year high recorded in the final quarter of 2022, government data showed on Friday, Reuters reported. Some 5,747 companies in England and Wales were declared insolvent in the first quarter of this year compared with 5,969 in the final quarter of 2022, which was the highest number since mid 2009, the seasonally adjusted figures showed.

Belgian cryptocurrency lending platform Bit4You has suspended its operations after one of its service providers, CoinLoan, was declared insolvent by a court in Estonia, CoinDesk.com reported. Bit4You learned of CoinLoan's insolvency on April 24, and that it no longer has necessary registration as a digital asset custodian, the lender said in a blog post on Wednesday. There has yet to be any indication that the funds held with CoinLoan will not be recovered, Bit4You added.

Major Romanian electro-IT retailer Altex, which operates physical stores and an online store that hosts third-party sellers, purchased for an unspecified price a EUR 4.6 mln claim held by Banca Transilvania against insolvent online retailer of furniture and home decoration goods Vivre Deco, Wall-street.ro reported. Altex has expanded its activity in recent years to new product categories, including furniture, DIY, automotive products, toys, beverages and sanitary products.