U.K. retail sales declined by the most on record in May, with sluggish growth in online sales and Brexit-related uncertainty taking a toll, Bloomberg News reported. Total sales fell by 2.7%, the biggest drop since at least 1995 when excluding any distortions caused by the timing of Easter. While some of the drop can be accounted for by comparing to last year -- when sales were boosted by sunshine, the World Cup and a royal wedding -- political and economic uncertainty played a significant role, the British Retail Consortium and KPMG said.

Deutsche Bank AG fell to a fresh record low Monday amid a broad-based slump in European bank stocks, adding to pressure on Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing to come up with a more decisive solution for his ailing investment bank, Bloomberg News reported. With concerns about a widening trade war weighing on global stocks and clouding the outlook for higher interest rates, the lender fell as much as 4.7% in Frankfurt trading. That left the shares below 6 euros ($6.70) for the first time, while the cost to protect against a default in the bank’s debt jumped.

The Italian government has told the European Commission that it plans to launch “a comprehensive plan of spending review and revenue enhancement” in a bid to avert a row over the country’s mounting debts, the Financial Times reported. Brussels wrote to Rome on Wednesday, expressing concern about its budget forecasts and warning the Italian government against its attempts to expand Italy’s budget.

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.