Former Wirecard boss Markus Braun's lawyers accused prosecutors of botching Germany's biggest post-war fraud trial at the start of his defence on Monday and alleged that their key witness was in fact the main perpetrator, Reuters reported. Braun, 53, and two other ex-Wirecard managers Oliver Bellenhaus and Stephan von Erffa are on trial on charges including market manipulation and fraud at the defunct payments company and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Russian commercial bank Uralsib said on Monday it had completed the acquisition of a portfolio of consumer loans from Citigroup Inc's Russian unit, as the major U.S. lender reduces its exposure to Russia on the way to a full exit from the country, Reuters reported. Neither bank has disclosed financial details of the deal. "The acquired portfolio includes unsecured consumer loans, which going forward will be serviced by Uralsib Bank from the moment of purchase," Uralsib said in a statement.

Norway will not have to ration power supplies this winter or in the coming spring even in the event of an extended cold period and wider energy challenges in the Nordic region, the country's energy regulator NVE said on Monday, Reuters reported. "Our analyses show that even with significant operational challenges in the Nordics, we will not end up in a rationing situation this winter," NVE director Kjetil Lund said in a statement.

Germany faces a paradox: After years of record immigration that has seen the equivalent of the population of a large city arrive in the country every year, one in six people in Germany was now born overseas, compared with one in seven in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported. But unlike the U.S., Germany is failing to find work for the newcomers despite a worsening labor shortage that is stifling economic growth. Europe’s largest economy will in addition need to fill about seven million jobs by 2035 as older workers retire, economists estimate.

The British government said Friday it would ease regulatory rules on banks, insurers and investors to bolster London’s status as a global financial hub after its allure was dented by Britain’s departure from the European Union, the Wall Street Journal reported. The U.K. presented a 30 point-plan called the “Edinburgh reforms” that the government hailed as a regulatory fine-tuning to boost the British economy, which has suffered a severe slowdown in recent years and is entering a recession.

Russia's current account surplus more than doubled year-on-year to $225.7 billion in January-November from $108.6 billion, the central bank said on Friday, giving much-needed fiscal wriggle room as the country's economy heads into 2023 on shaky ground, Reuters reported. This year, Russia is on track to post a record high current account surplus after its imports of goods and services fell due to Western sanctions while globally high commodity prices boosted its export revenues.

With Russian missiles pounding apartment buildings, power plants, schools and roads, a glimmering vision of a reconstructed postwar Ukraine seems impossibly far off. But an urgent battle of ideas has already begun over how to manage what would be the most extensive rebuilding project in Europe since the end of World War II, the New York Times reported.

Government measures to ease the cost of Europe's energy price shock should not be ramped up further and should be wound down in the next two or three years, the head of France's central bank said on Thursday, Reuters reported. European governments have committed tens of billions of euros this year to help households and businesses cope with record power and gas prices with measures ranging from subsidies to tax breaks and price caps.

Wirecard's former chief executive, who steered the payments company through its rise and spectacular collapse two years ago, went on trial for fraud on Thursday after a scandal that shook German politics and tarnished the country's business reputation, Reuters reported. The 53-year-old former CEO Markus Braun, who has been in custody since his arrest in 2020, and two other managers of the former blue chip company face charges including fraud and market manipulation that could result in a jail term of up to 15 years for each of them if convicted.