Seán Dunne’s Irish bankruptcy trustee has agreed to lift a legal claim registered over a valuable Dublin 4 property which was sold for €14.2 million more than three years ago, the High Court has heard, The Irish Times reported.

A sharper than expected decline in industrial production has weakened the prospects of a recovery in the eurozone economy in the final month of last year, the Financial Times reported. Industrial production in the single currency zone slid 2.1 per cent in December, according to figures published by Eurostat on Wednesday, confirming earlier reports of sharp drops in factory output in Germany, France and Italy. In the year to December, eurozone industrial production was down 4.1 per cent — its weakest performance since the region’s sovereign debt crisis in 2012.

Greece’s spectacular bond rally reached another landmark on Wednesday as the country’s 10-year yield dropped below 1 per cent for the first time, the Financial Times reported. Greek borrowing costs have tumbled to record lows this year in defiance of its “junk” credit rating, as investors pile into corners of the eurozone debt market that offer a positive yield. The recent drop in borrowing costs caps a dramatic turnround since the height of the eurozone debt crisis when the country’s 10-year yield spiked above 30 per cent, effectively locking it out of the market.

The head of Italy’s biggest bank UniCredit and the deputy chairman of No.2 lender Intesa Sanpaolo are among 21 people investigated by state prosecutors in an inquiry into the bankruptcy of flagship carrier Alitalia, a document sent to the people and their lawyers showed, Reuters reported. The document, seen by Reuters, said the investigation relates to the period between Jan. 1, 2015 and May 2, 2017 when the loss-making carrier asked to be put under special administration for the second time in less than a decade.

The European Central Bank has urged Commerzbank to speed up its restructuring efforts with the region’s top financial regulator expressing concern about lacklustre profitability and a bloated cost base at Germany’s second-largest listed lender, the Financial Times reported. The unusually frank assessment of the strategy of a bank that meets all key regulatory requirements was made by an unnamed ECB official who attended a Commerzbank supervisory board meeting, people familiar with events told the Financial Times.

Two top Bank of England officials suggested that the U.K. financial system’s rules may have to diverge from the European Union’s after Brexit -- a topic that’s becoming as a major point of contention between the two sides, Bloomberg News reported. Outgoing Governor Mark Carney told Parliament on Tuesday that Britain’s view of EU regulation may change over time, especially since it will no longer be able to help set the rules.

Air Italy’s investors agreed on Tuesday to place the struggling Italian carrier into liquidation, the airline said citing “persistent and structural market problems,” Reuters reported. The decision was taken “unanimously”, the carrier said, but in a separate statement Qatar Airways, which holds a 49% stake, said it would have been ready to support the relaunch and growth of the airline. “Qatar Airways was ready once again to play its part in supporting the growth of the airline, but this would only have been possible with the commitment of all shareholders,” Qatar said.

UniCredit confirmed plans to cut 6,000 jobs in Italy over the next four years as the country’s biggest bank began the negotiation process with unions on Monday over layoffs and branch closures, Reuters reported. In December UniCredit unveiled a new plan to 2023, under which it would cut 8,000 jobs and close 500 branches, angering Italian unions, which said then that they expected 5,500 layoffs in Italy and up to 450 branch closures.

Deal talks and a rally in defensive sectors supported European shares on Monday as investors grappled with the potential impact of the coronavirus, while Irish stocks were hit by a strong showing for the left-wing Sinn Fein in a national election, Reuters reported. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended 0.07% higher, having marked its best week in three months as part of a broader rebound from an earlier virus-driven sell-off.

Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s debt rating could be upgraded by Fitch if the lender manages to complete a planned sale of bad loans without eating into its capital base excessively, the ratings agency said on Monday, Reuters reported. Italy, which owns 68% of Monte dei Paschi after a 2017 bailout, has been in talks with EU competition authorities for months over a scheme to rid the bank of most its remaining impaired loans without subjecting it to heavy losses.