The Charity Commission has launched an inquiry into UK-based Effective Ventures Foundation over its ties to bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, Bloomberg News reported. The Oxford, Oxfordshire-based charity had reported the FTX bankruptcy as a “serious incident”, as FTX’s philanthropic foundation had been a major funder of Effective Ventures, according to a statement Monday by the Charity Commission. The commission said there is “no indication of wrongdoing” by the charity’s trustees.

The German economy unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter, data showed on Monday, a sign that Europe's largest economy may be entering a much-predicted recession, though likely a shallower one than originally feared, Reuters reported. Gross domestic product decreased 0.2% quarter on quarter in adjusted terms, the federal statistics office said. A Reuters poll of analysts had forecast the economy would stagnate. In the previous quarter, the German economy grew by an upwardly revised 0.5% versus the previous three months.

Euro zone economic sentiment rose to a seven-month high in January on more optimism across all sectors except construction, with inflation expectations among consumers and companies both sharply down, data showed on Monday, Reuters reported. The European Commission's Economic Sentiment Index (ESI) rose to 99.9 this month, above an upwardly revised 97.1 in December -- the highest value of the index since June 2022.

Spanish inflation unexpectedly quickened in January after a five-month run of slowing price growth, prompting traders to boost their bets on how high the European Central Bank will raise interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices advanced by 5.8% from a year ago, up from the previous month’s 5.5% increase, the statistics institute in Madrid said Monday. That’s well above the 4.8% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists, though the predictions ranged from 3.8% to 6.5%.

Flybe ceased trading on Saturday, marking the struggling British regional airline's second collapse in three years, with all flights canceled and 276 workers made redundant, the Daily Sabah reported. The airline initially slumped into bankruptcy in March 2020, shedding 2,400 jobs, as coronavirus restrictions decimated the travel industry. However, it relaunched in April last year, flying many of the same routes out of Belfast, Birmingham and London Heathrow.

Atlas Technologies, the operating company responsible for the production of the Lightyear solar cars, has now been declared insolvent by a Dutch court. What will happen to the entire project is now very uncertain, Electrive.com reported. A few days ago, Lightyear had already announced the stop of production for the Lightyear 0 in order to concentrate on the Lightyear 2.

Ukraine will need an additional $17 billion in financing this year for energy repairs, de-mining and to rebuild infrastructure, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday, Reuters reported. He told a government meeting that five high-voltage substations in the central, southern and south-west regions were hit during Russia's air attacks on Thursday. The energy sector has been severely damaged following four months of Russian missile and drones attacks.

Hungary's January annual inflation is expected to rise above 25% but in February price growth will start slowing which could then allow the central bank to gradually start reducing its interest rates, the minister for economic development said on Sunday, Reuters reported. Marton Nagy, a former central bank deputy governor, told state radio that the "very high" interest rates made the government's job difficult and harmed the economy. Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government is trying to avoid economic recession at a time when inflation is still running well above 20%.

Britain’s Treasury chief said Friday that taming inflation is more important than cutting taxes, resisting calls from some in the governing Conservative Party for immediate tax breaks for businesses and voters, the Associated Press reported. At a speech in London, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said “the best tax cut right now is a cut in inflation.” The U.K.’s annual inflation rate hit a four-decade high of 11.1% in October, fueling a cost-of-living crisis and a wave of strikes by workers seeking pay raises to keep pace with rising food and energy prices.

More than 30,000 British companies went bust last year, with accountants warning of a “double whammy” to come in April that could trigger another wave of insolvencies, Bloomberg News reported. Big businesses were the worst hit, according to a report published Thursday by accountancy giant PwC. Insolvency activity among firms with revenues exceeding £1 million ($1.24 million) rose by more than 20%. Across all companies, the number of insolvencies climbed from 28,279 in 2021 to 31,606 last year, a jump of nearly 12%.