A global resurgence in protectionism, political turbulence within the single currency area and turmoil in some emerging markets have made the eurozone’s financial system more vulnerable to shocks, the European Central Bank has acknowledged, the Financial Times reported. The ECB said in the latest edition of its twice-yearly Financial Stability Review the risks to the region’s financial system had risen since May, and identified four threats to the eurozone that is yet to fully recover from the financial crisis ten years on.

Emoov is considering a pre-pack administration after a four-week search for a buyer has so far failed to seal a rescue deal for the cash-strapped digital estate agency, the Financial Times reported. Russell Quirk, chief executive, this week told the FT: “A pre-pack is not being ruled out” and that “time is of the essence . . . we are eagerly searching for someone to support the business”. Sky News reported on Thursday that Emoov was on the verge of appointing James Cowper Kreston, an accountancy firm, as administrator.

Icelandair Group Hf abandoned its plan to buy low-cost rival Wow Air Hf, sending the krona tumbling amid concern that the country’s tourism industry could be hit if the discounter collapses, Bloomberg News reported.

Businessmen brothers Brian and David Stenson have claimed a “vulture fund” has “concocted” the wrongful appointment of a receiver over a commercial property owned by them in Finglas, Dublin. Jarlath Ryan BL, for the brothers, told the High Court on Wednesday that Promontoria (Oyster) DAC was not entitled to appoint David O’Connor as receiver over the property at Century Business Park. Counsel said his clients are not in default of loans acquired by the fund from Ulster Bank in 2004 and the fund is attempting to put them effectively “out on the street,” The Irish Times reported.

Growth in eurozone bank lending to businesses slowed in October from September, a possible sign of increased caution among companies in the 19-country currency bloc, Hellenic Shipping News reported. The European Central Bank said Wednesday that lending to nonfinancial corporations grew at an annual rate of 3.9% in October after 4.3% growth in September. The eurozone economy is heavily dependent on the availability of funding, and economists watch lending data as an indicator of economic health. Lending to eurozone households, however, was steady.

Italian banks have increased their holdings of government debt by the largest amount since the early days of the country’s bond market sell-off nearly six months ago, in the latest sign that the eurozone ‘doom loop’ is still going strong, the Financial Times reported. Financial institutions in Italy bought a net €6.9bn of Italian government bonds in October, according to newly-released data from the European Central Bank. That takes their total net increase in sovereign bond-holdings since the market first tanked in May to €54bn.

German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp AG’s most opaque division has gone from hero to zero in the space of four short years, a Bloomberg View reported. The not-very-sexily-named “Industrial Solutions” unit builds plants for cement, chemical and mining customers. Until last month, it also included its ship-making and submarines business. When sales boom, industrial contractors like this generate cash thanks to the advance payments they get from customers for long-term projects. But if orders evaporate or the contractor misjudges the cost of finishing complex tasks, they bleed cash instead.

Ukraine’s central bank declared insolvent Kremlin-run lender VTB’s local subsidiary on Tuesday, ending a long-running struggle over the Russian state’s role in the country after the annexation of Crimea, the Financial Times reported. The National Bank of Ukraine said it would wind down VTB Ukraine’s operations after its Moscow parent “failed to comply with banking law and the [NBU’s] regulations” and “made no attempt to keep the bank solvent”.

Rising geopolitical tensions are increasingly playing out in the global debt markets, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Russia’s launch this week of the sale of a euro-denominated bond is just the latest example.

The chief executive of Germany’s Lufthansa said he expects the company to take part in more consolidation in the industry that will eventually leave three global carriers in Europe, Reuters reported. “There are way too many players in Europe,” Carsten Spohr told a meeting of the Centre for Aviation in Berlin on Tuesday, noting that six airlines had gone bankrupt in the last few months. “It is obvious that consolidation will act further and we as Lufthansa want to be part of that,” he said.