A Spanish court has summoned Mikhail Fridman, who controls retailer DIA, to appear before it next month in an investigation into the bankruptcy of digital entertainment firm Zed Worldwide, a judicial source said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Fridman had been called to the Madrid-based Audiencia Nacional major crimes court on Sept. 12 after a Spanish anti-graft prosecutor alleged that the Russian tycoon had played a role in Zed’s bankruptcy, the judicial source told Reuters. A spokesman for Fridman said he had not received any legal notification regarding the summons.

Pessimism among global businesses has risen sharply in the third quarter of the year as US-China trade tensions, the slowing Eurozone economy, and the rising chances of a no-deal Brexit spook firms, City A.M. reported. The quarterly global risk survey from Oxford Economics, released today, showed that 19 per cent of companies think a deterioration in the global economy is highly likely, compared to seven per cent in the second quarter.

Steinhoff International Holdings NV is considering an initial public offering of Pepkor Europe, its fastest-growing unit, as the scandal-hit South African retailer seeks funds for the next phase of its recovery plan, people familiar with the matter said. The company has been discussing a listing of Pepkor Europe with potential advisers, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private, Bloomberg News reported. The business -- which owns the Pepco and Dealz chains as well as Poundland in the U.K.

Administrators for Belfast’s Harland and Wolff shipyard are expected to file for insolvency this afternoon. Accountancy firm BDO was appointed to the firm yesterday evening and is expected to file the papers at Belfast High Court, Newstalk reported. The iconic site ceased trading yesterday after its Norwegian parent company failed to find a buyer. Its 123 staff have been handed redundancy notices – however, workers are refusing to leave the site and are demanding UK Government action to save the historic business.

The growth in consumer lending has alarmed some economic policy officials, who note that a growing number of Russians are using a quick swipe of plastic or relying on payday lenders to cope with hard times brought on by Western sanctions and slumping prices for oil, one of the country’s major export commodities, the International New York Times reported. The spending has lifted the economy but with ballooning consumer debt that could help start a recession.

Sports Direct has won the bidding war for Jack Wills, adding yet another brand to Mike Ashley’s high street empire, The Irish Times reported. Advisers at KPMG said Jack Wills had been put into administration on Monday and was immediately sold to Sports Direct in a process known as a pre-pack administration. The retailer has a small number of stores in the Republic, including on Grafton Street, at the Dundrum Town Centre and at Kildare Village.

Sentix’s economic index of investor confidence fell by 7.9 points to minus 13.7 in August, significantly below the minus 7.7 analysts had predicted, City A.M. reported. Investors’ views of economic expectations fell to minus 20, the lowest score since August 2012, from minus 13 in July. Sentix noted that the last time investors’ expectations were so low, European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi felt compelled to say he would do “whatever it takes” to bolster the Eurozone.

The pace of German expansion slowed more in July than earlier estimates had suggested while businesses’ optimism for future production fell to its lowest in more than four and a half years, a leading indicator’s final figures showed, escalating fears that the eurozone’s biggest economy faces recession in coming months, the Financial Times reported. IHS Markit’s final services reading recorded 54.5, well below a preliminary estimate of 55.4. This was also lower than June’s nine-month high of 55.8, IHS Markit data revealed on Monday. A figure above 50 still indicates growth.

Harland and Wolff, the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, was put into administration on Monday after its bankrupt Norwegian owner failed to find a buyer and calls for its nationalization were rebuffed, Reuters reported. The shipyard, whose towering yellow cranes dominate the Northern Irish city’s skyline, has been occupied by workers fearful for their jobs since last week. They said on Monday they would block administrators from entering the site. “BDO have been appointed as administrators and the company will file for insolvency tomorrow,” a Harland and Wolff spokesman said.

The cloistered quads and frescoes of the palazzo of San Salvador near the Rialto bridge in Venice have long been the property of the Italian state — but they will soon have a new owner, the Financial Times reported. In an attempt to chip away at €2.3tn in public debt the former monastery, founded in the 12th century on the orders of Pope Alexander III, is up for sale. Rome is cashing in on its valuable portfolio of state-owned assets by holding a fire sale of historic properties, from disused army barracks to forts, monasteries and lighthouses.