The government leaders of Poland and the neighboring Czech Republic held intensive talks Tuesday in an attempt to solve a years-long dispute that resurfaced recently over a Polish coal mine, the Associated Press reported. The Czech government says the brown coal Turow mine, located in southwestern Poland, near the Czech and German borders, is draining groundwater from communities and causing other environmental harm to Czech citizens.

Banca Ifis Rescues Italian Casualty of Greensill Collapse Italy’s Banca Ifis has bought the healthy assets of Aigis Banca for 1 euro ($1.22) after Aigis was forced into liquidation by the insolvency of Germany’s Greensill Bank, Reuters reported. German financial services regulator BaFin in March shut down Greensill Bank AG, which was part of Greensill Capital, the collapsed London-based supply-chain finance group owned by Australian financier Lex Greensill.

GFG Alliance is putting seven of its U.K. plants up for sale as it seeks to reach an agreement with Credit Suisse Group AG to stave off insolvencies of some of its units, Bloomberg News reported. Owner Sanjeev Gupta made “significant progress” in weekend talks with the Swiss lender’s asset-management arm to resolve GFG’s exposure with Credit Suisse, the metals group said in an emailed statement Monday. GFG has been seeking to raise new financing to replace some of the $5 billion of loans provided by Greensill Capital since the London-based financial firm collapsed in March.

When Mario Draghi ran the European Central Bank, he pushed, unsuccessfully, to get the region’s feeble banks to merge and clean themselves up. Now as Italy’s prime minister, he is trying again, hoping to spur a consolidation wave among the country’s beleaguered lenders, the Wall Street Journal reported. Italy’s banking sector, stuffed with soured loans and weighed down by high costs, has long loomed as the weakest link among countries that share the euro currency. Last week Mr.

The British government confirmed plans to charge EU citizens and other foreign nationals to visit, as part of a wider reform aimed at making the border more secure, Politico reported. Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Monday that her department will pass legislation to introduce a new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) that she argued will help the government track with more accuracy the number of people entering and leaving the U.K. It will apply to visitors without a visa or immigration status, except British and Irish citizens.

Norwegian Air is set to exit its restructuring process next week after raising the 6 billion Norwegian crowns ($714 million) it targeted through the sale of perpetual bonds, new shares and a rights issue, Reuters reported. Financed largely by debt, Norwegian Air grew rapidly, serving routes across Europe and flying to North and South America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East before the COVID-19 pandemic plunged the budget airline into crisis.

Financially troubled insurers will be offered more flexibility and clarity on the process of writing down debts to avoid insolvency, under HM Treasury proposals, Insurance Insider reported. The proposed reforms are set out in a consultation now open that would change the existing insolvency arrangements for insurers operating outside the Lloyd’s market. The changes aim to provide greater clarity on the process of writing down debts owed by carriers, to cut costs for the industry and offer greater protection to policyholders.

Britain’s main opposition Labour Party said it will push for a vote in parliament on Monday over support for U.S. plans to introduce a global minimum corporation tax rate, Reuters reported. The U.S. Treasury Department earlier this week said that it would accept a floor of at least 15% during international negotiations, a rate significantly below its proposed 21% minimum for U.S. multinational firms.

One of Germany’s wealthiest families is selling down the last major investment of Heinz Hermann Thiele, three months after the billionaire patriarch’s death, Bloomberg News reported. The Thiele family’s KB Holding GmbH sold more than half its stake in Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe’s biggest airline, disposing of 33 million shares at a 9.80 euros each. While that’s a 9.8% discount to the stock’s closing price the previous day, the heirs likely broke even on the transaction given the original purchase price.

European Union antitrust regulators fined UBS, UniCredit and Nomura 371 million euros ($452 million) on Thursday in connection with a European government bond trading cartel, Reuters reported. The penalties are the latest to punish the financial industry for alleged involvement in foreign exchange cartels, Euribor and Libor benchmark cartels, and bonds cartels. The three banks said in statements that they would appeal or were considering doing so.