Sterling and European markets are likely to succumb to another wave of volatility this week as the odds of a no-deal Brexit have tightened after UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s bid to pass his European Union withdrawal agreement in parliament on Saturday was scuppered, according to traders and analysts, The Irish Times reported. “Markets are likely to remain nervous over the next few days,” said Ronan Dunphy, an economist with Investec Ireland, even though he still sees the prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU at the end of October as “remote”.

More than two-thirds of global corporate bond fund managers expect default rates to climb over the next 12 months, according to a new report from the International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers, Bloomberg News reported. In a September survey of over 100 member institutions in more than 20 countries, 68% of respondents said they expect defaults to rise, up from 58% three months ago. In the survey, 74% said North American default rates will climb, while 75% expect European default rates to increase, up from 52% in June.

The German government has revised down its forecast for economic growth next year from 1.5 per cent to 1 per cent, in a further sign of the slowdown that is clouding the prospects for the eurozone’s largest economy, the Financial Times reported. The economics ministry did not change its projection of 0.5 per cent growth in gross domestic product in 2019. Germany’s economy has been roiled by global trade tensions, Brexit-related uncertainty and upheaval in the auto industry.

United Group, a private equity-owned cable company, is in exclusive talks to buy Vivacom, Bulgaria’s largest telecoms group, according to people familiar with the situation, the Financial Times reported. The company, owned by BC Partners, is nearing a deal for Vivacom, which went up for sale in July, the people said. Buyout firm KKR also owns a minority stake in United Group. Vivacom was expected to be valued at about €1.2bn based on recent deals in the region for telecom assets, people involved in the sale said.

U.K. retail sales held up better than expected in September in the face of the intensifying Brexit crisis, Bloomberg News reported. The quantity of goods sold rose 0.2% from August when auto fuel is excluded, the Office for National Statistics said Thursday. Sales including fuel were unchanged. Both measures were forecast to decline for a second month. A buoyant labor market has supported consumer spending through the turmoil since the 2016 referendum. While heightened uncertainty ahead of the Oct.

Liquidator Grant Thornton is seeking litigation funding to step up its hunt for 500 million pounds ($632.30 million) invested in UK company Euro Forex, which Chinese police have said was a pyramid scheme, Reuters reported. Reuters reported in 2016 how Euro Forex, or EuroFX, allegedly scammed thousands of investors in China and other countries. EuroFX had a British CEO and headquarters and has since been wound up. A pyramid scheme does not make real investments, but instead uses cash from new investors to pay older ones.

Two companies in Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud’s property empire have gone into liquidation, weeks after it was revealed that investors in his projects faced huge losses, The Irish Times reported. KPMG has been appointed to manage the liquidation of HAB Land and subsidiary firm HAB Land Finance.

Eurozone inflation slowed to its lowest level in nearly three years and further diverged from the central bank’s target as exports contracted, raising fears of a sharp economic slowdown, the Financial Times reported. Consumer prices dropped to 0.8 per cent in September from a year earlier, from 1 per cent in August and below the initial estimates of 0.9 per cent, official data from Eurostat revealed. This was the slowest annual rise in consumer prices since November 2016.

The company that holds the store leases of camera retailer Jessops has filed for administration in a bid to restructure its obligations and cut its outgoings, according to people briefed on the matter, the Financial Times reported. JR Prop manages the leases for Jessops under a structure similar to that used by the sub-brands of fashion retailer Arcadia. It has filed a notice of intent to appoint ReSolve as administrators, a move that affords the company creditor protection for a period of 10 days. The group’s main trading company, Jessops Europe, is unaffected by the move.

Italy’s cabinet has agreed a draft budget that aims to keep deficit broadly stable while cutting taxes for lower earners and clamping down on evasion, clearing the first important collaborative hurdle for the country’s two-month-old coalition, the Financial Times reported.