UK financial services companies have racked up a Brexit bill of close to £4bn as they prepare to shift people and capital to the EU, according to EY, the consultancy, the Financial Times reported. Some of Britain’s biggest financial services groups have disclosed £1.3bn in relocation costs, legal advice and contingency provisions since Britain voted to leave the EU three years ago, plus an extra £2.6bn in capital injections as they set up non-UK headquarters, EY’s quarterly Brexit tracker said.

Fashion retailer New Look more than doubled full-year losses and revealed it had discovered historical accounting irregularities within the account used to track supplier payments, the Financial Times reported. The company, whose biggest shareholder is the Brait investment vehicle controlled by South African billionaire Christo Wiese, reported £402m of charges, largely related to its move private some years ago.

Falling morale among Germany’s business leaders has added to the gloom surrounding the eurozone’s biggest economy, as a leading index showed that the mood among managers has weakened to its lowest level in nearly five years, the Financial Times reported. “The German economy is heading for the doldrums,” said the Ifo institute, which recorded a decline in its business climate reading this month to 97.4. That compares with 97.9 a month earlier and in line with economists’ predictions. June’s reading was the fourth decline and the lowest since November 2014 when it touched 96.1.

Switzerland’s thrift, contrasting with neighbors struggling to fix bloated budget deficits, is exposing the country to other longer-term problems, Bloomberg News reported. The country of 8 million runs surpluses every year and its debt ratio is far below a level that would even begin to raise alarm bells. In fact, critics warn that the aversion to leverage risks making life harder than necessary, with wide-ranging economic implications. It looks like a model of fiscal prudence in a world drowning in debt.

The eurozone’s anemic growth and inflation mean it’s probably already experiencing its own “Japanification,” and escape could prove hard if the Asian nation’s track record is any guide, according to ING Group, The Japan Times reported. Europe’s situation has long left it open to comparisons with Japan in the 1990s. In a report Monday, ING lists similarities including an increase in government debt, a buildup of bad loans at banks, an aging population and huge monetary policy loosening.

The European Commission could give Italy until January to make fiscal policy changes under an EU debt procedure, minutes of an EU meeting show, setting a relatively long deadline to help avert fines and any backlash from Rome’s eurosceptics, Reuters reported. Unless the government makes concessions this week on its spending plans for 2019 and 2020, the EU executive is expected to propose on July 2 that a disciplinary procedure be opened over Italy’s rising debt.

The French fiscal administration has launched an in-depth probe into the wealth of former Renault-Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn, French daily Liberation reported on Sunday, citing sources. Ghosn, who holds French, Lebanese and Brazilian citizenship, is facing financial misconduct charges, which he denies.

Some €875 million – or 7.3 per cent – of all performing loans to small and medium businesses have a “high vulnerability” suggesting their ability to repay in the event of a downturn would be threatened, according to Central Bank research, the Irish Times reported. The research, conducted across three banks in the Republic (AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster), found that there is more than €12 billion in outstanding loans to SMEs.

Italy risks further infuriating European Union finance chiefs after Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he was in favour of a broad reform that would cut taxes, Express.co.uk reported. As the two sides brace to collide yet again, Mr Conte said he agree with deputy prime minister and far-right leader Matteo Salvini, who is calling for significant tax cuts. Mr Salvini has threatened to bring down the Italian government should his proposals not be met.

The chairman of the largest Irish estate agency has said it is time to “shout stop” about the Central Bank’s mortgage lending restrictions and has called on the regulator to relax its rules to release “the genius of capitalism”, the Irish Times reported. Mark FitzGerald, the chairman of Sherry FitzGerald, said the Central Bank’s macroprudential rules, which cap new mortgages according to loan-to-value and loan-to-income limits, are “too binding”.