Deutsche Bank AG and UniCredit SpA moved some of their swaps trades from London to Frankfurt in May as banks used a lull in the ongoing Brexit drama to prepare for the worst, Bloomberg News reported. About 10 banks took part in a switching run where lenders closed existing swaps positions in the U.K. and opened equivalent ones in Germany, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the trades are private. Some of the 10, including JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Azerbaijan’s SOCAR is interested in buying Russia’s Antipinsky oil refinery, although specifics from the Russian side are not known yet, SOCAR’s deputy vice president told Reuters. Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, is in talks with potential investors to sell the Siberian refinery after gaining the rights for the majority of the indebted business, Reuters reported. “We are interested in this purchase indeed, but proposals are not defined yet,” Vitaly Baylarbayov told Reuters on Thursday at the annual Caspian Oil and Gas conference in the Azeri capital, Baku.

Corporate debt insurance that fell out of favor after the financial crisis is returning to vogue as default rates rise and a series of high-profile failures pay off for short sellers, Bloomberg News reported. Credit-default swaps trading increased 7% this year, with average weekly volumes of $58 billion, according to the latest data from the International Swaps & Derivatives Association. Payouts on contracts linked to French retailer Rallye SA and U.K. fashion chain New Look Retail Group Ltd.

The European Central Bank has warned that trade tensions pose the greatest risk of knocking global growth, something that could destabilise the eurozone’s financial system, the Financial Times reported. “If downside risks to the growth outlook were to materialise, risks to financial stability may arise,” said ECB vice-president Luis de Guindos, pointing to uncertainty about global growth and volatile financial markets.

Brussels has sent a letter warning Italy’s populist government over its rising debt levels, setting up a fresh clash between the EU and Rome less than week after European elections, the Financial Times reported. The European Commission on Wednesday wrote to Italy’s finance ministry asking for an explanation on the country’s deteriorating debt situation.

Germany’s jobless rate this month rose for the first time in more than five years in the latest sign of the struggles facing Europe’s biggest economy, the Financial Times reported. The unemployment rate climbed to 5 per cent in May from April’s 4.9 per cent — the lowest since at least 1991, according to data from the country’s central bank. It marked the first monthly increase since November 2013. The tick higher in the jobless rate came as 60,000 more people were considered unemployed in May from the previous month, the largest such increase in a decade.

ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker, said it would cut European production for the second time in a month as weak demand and high quantities of imports continued to take their toll, the Financial Times reported. The company announced on Wednesday that it would lower output at its plants in Dunkirk, France, and Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany. It will also extend planned stoppages at its facilities in Bremen, Germany, and Asturias, Spain.

Skilled workers are in short supply for the eurozone’s smaller businesses, which spells good news for wages and domestic demand as the single-currency region enjoys record low unemployment, the Financial Times reported. One in four small and medium-sized businesses in the eurozone said that the biggest challenge they face is a lack of skilled labour. This is the highest proportion across all the issues they face and is up from 15 per cent three years ago, a survey by the European Central Bank found on Wednesday.

British property lending business BondMason told investors it is pulling out of its core peer-to-peer business ahead of an expected downturn in performance, days after another property specialist collapsed in the sector’s largest failure to date, the Financial Times reported. In an email to customers on Wednesday the company said it would stop offering new investments and wind down its service after collecting on its existing loans.

European shares dipped on Tuesday, with bank stocks capturing investors’ attention as concerns about a possible fine on Italy due to the indebted country’s yawning budget deficit exacted a heavy toll on risk sentiment, Reuters reported. The pan-region STOXX 600 fell 0.2%, with banks shedding 0.4% and chemicals stocks declining 1%. London-listed shares edged down as they traded for the first time this week, while Germany’s DAX ended 0.4% lower, matching the decline in Paris-traded equities.