The investment firm at the centre of British Steel’s collapse is considering buying a troubled steelworks in Poland, according to people briefed on the matter, the Financial Times reported.

It would be either illegal or useless for Italy to issue bonds to pay its suppliers as such notes would break European currency rules or add to the country’s massive government debt, Italian finance minister Giovanni Tria said on Saturday, Reuters reported. Speaking on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Japan, Tria sought to soothe fears about Italy’s public finances, which have unnerved investors and raised the threat of disciplinary action from the European Commission since an anti-austerity government took office a year ago.

UK retailers suffered the steepest monthly decline in footfall for six years in May, according to figures from Springboard, the retail research company, the Financial Times reported. The figures, published on Monday, show that footfall across high streets, retail parks and shopping centres declined by more than 3 per cent in May compared with the same month last year. The high street segment was the worst affected with footfall down 4.8 per cent.

Mitie, the cleaning and security contractor, said it was hoping to take work from troubled rival Interserve as it continued to restructure following its own financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. Phil Bentley, who has led the cleaning, maintenance and security company since 2016, said it had already “made it to a couple of government framework contracts where Interserve had been the incumbent”. Interserve was taken over by creditors this year. Mr Bentley said it was too soon to say what the “full implications” for the market would be.

Deutsche Bank AG’s credit rating was cut by Fitch Ratings, which cited the firm’s lack of progress in improving operations, Bloomberg News reported. The bank’s long-term issuer default rating was downgraded to BBB from BBB+, Fitch said in a statement on Friday. “The downgrade of Deutsche Bank reflects its continued difficulty and limited progress in improving its profitability and stabilizing its business model,” Fitch said. The bank has a total of 145.7 billion euros ($165.2 billion) of public bonds and loans outstanding, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Philip Green’s Arcadia has offered better terms for landlords in a restructuring plan for the struggling British fashion retailer, seeking the support of creditors to prevent the group from collapsing into administration next week, Reuters reported. Arcadia said on Friday the cost of the sweetened terms would be met by Tina Green - Philip Green’s Monaco-based wife and the ultimate owner of a group which employs 18,000.

The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) is resisting calls from the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to verify that debtors in default are not involved in the illegal purchase of assets of the so-called bad bank, The Irish Times reported. Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe has been informed by Nama that meeting this recommendation, contained in a PAC report in March, “would give rise to a series of practical difficulties which could have an adverse commercial impact on its sales activities”.

The creditors of indebted French marine services company Bourbon reached a restructuring deal that would give them control of the company, protect jobs and draw new liquidity, Reuters reported. Bourbon has been hurt by market overcapacity and a fall in spending on services by upstream oil and gas companies, but the deal with its creditors lifted its shares. Bourbon’s stock rose 24% in early session trading, although it is still down around 36% so far this year.

A potential crashing out of the EU by the UK would be the “greatest risk to the Swedish financial system” over the next six months as market participants felt that domestic factors had faded in comparison, Sweden’s central bank found in a survey, the Financial Times reported. “The risk of a disorderly UK withdrawal from the EU is the foremost risk factor for the Swedish financial system in the period ahead,” the Riksbank, in its six-month study on the Swedish fixed-income and foreign exchange markets, said on Wednesday.

Brussels and Rome have clashed over Italy’s economic policies, reigniting an argument over EU budget rules in a process that could lead to financial sanctions against Giuseppe Conte’s anti-establishment government, the Financial Times reported. The European Commission said on Wednesday that Italy had failed to meet agreed targets for reining in spending and cutting public debt, the second highest in the eurozone at 132 per cent of gross domestic product in 2018.