Bank lenders are seeking to cut their exposure to one of the world’s largest aircraft lessors before a moratorium on debt payment ends next month, Bloomberg News reported. An unnamed lender to a unit of Nordic Aviation Capital AS is seeking to sell a $50-million portion of a credit facility this week. The seller may dispose of the debt, which is secured by assets held in NAC Aviation 29 DAC, at roughly a 30% discount to face value, they said. A representative for Nordic Aviation declined to comment on the potential loan sale.

European budget airline Wizz Air warned of further losses in its current financial year, amid a slower-than-expected recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported. The ultra-low cost carrier faces another "transition year" as travel curbs linger on, Chief Executive Jozsef Varadi said on Wednesday, as the company posted a 576 million euro ($703 million) net loss for the 12 months ended March 31. "Unless we see an accelerated and permanent lifting of restrictions we expect a reported net loss in full-year 2022," Varadi said.

France will set up a new 3 billion euro ($3.67 billion) fund to support mid-sized and large companies as they emerge from the coronavirus crisis, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The fund aims to help firms on a case-by-case basis with loans or equity injections so that businesses that were viable before the pandemic but now have strained balance sheets can get back on their feet. "The aim is not to dilute shareholders, it's not the state's role to become French companies' main shareholder," Le Maire told a news conference.

Amigo Holdings Plc said on Tuesday that it was looking at filing for insolvency after a court last week rejected a rescue plan for the subprime lender, Reuters reported. London's High Court rejected the plan, which would have cut compensation payouts to customers for mis-selling loans, sending the company's shares plunging more than 50%. In a statement, Amigo said it would not appeal the ruling. It anticipates delaying its financial results for the year ended March, it added.

The European Commission has approved an 800 million euro scheme by Greece, designed to support tourism companies which have been heavily affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, Reuters reported. "They (the companies) have been hit hard by the pandemic, and this scheme will help ensure the continuity of their economic activity in these difficult times," Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of the European Union's competition policy, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Inflation in the euro area climbed to the highest level in more than two years after economies across the region started to lift coronavirus restrictions and rebounding demand aggravated supply bottlenecks, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose an annual 2% in May, more than economists predicted, with energy the biggest gainer from a year ago when the region was in full lockdown. Germany, Spain and Italy -- three of the four largest euro-zone economies -- all reported increases.

The euro zone economy has reached a turning point and the recent rise in borrowing costs reflects improved fundamentals, European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel told Reuters, playing down concerns that rising yields risk choking off growth. Facing a persistent uptick in borrowing costs, the ECB must decide on the future pace of its emergency bond buys at a June 10 meeting and a growing chorus of policymakers is calling for a steady flow of stimulus, fearing that the recovery might otherwise falter.

Taylor Wimpey Plc is covering repair costs for a defective London housing block that are in addition to provisions it’s made for potentially unsafe legacy developments in the wake of the U.K. cladding scandal, Bloomberg News reported. The housebuilder is addressing fire-safety issues and other problems following persistent complaints that the development has been faulty since it was built.

The European Union will apply lessons from the Wirecard scandal by proposing stricter rules next year for company financial reporting and auditors, its financial services chief said, Reuters reported. The payments company collapsed in 2020 in Germany's biggest post-war fraud scandal after auditor EY could not confirm the existence of 1.9 billion euros ($2.32 billion) in cash balances. "Wirecard is a wake-up call. Wirecard told and sold a great story that wasn't true," Mairead McGuinness said in a speech to the European Policy Centre on Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the market-rattling meltdown of Bill Hwang’s Archegos Capital Management in March, a debacle that left big banks in Europe, Asia and the U.S. nursing more than $10 billion in losses, Bloomberg News reported. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan sent requests for information to at least some of the banks that dealt with the firm. It’s unclear what potential violations or entities authorities are examining.