The 19-country eurozone economy lost momentum in September despite a resilient performance by the services sector in Italy, according to a closely watched survey released Wednesday, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. Financial information firm IHS Markit said its composite purchasing managers' index, a key measure of business activity in services and manufacturing, slipped to 54.1 points in September from 54.5 the previous month.

Credit Suisse, one of the largest players in the $1.3tn market for leveraged loans, has issued an unusual defence of lending to highly-indebted companies even as investor concerns rise over the booming area of finance, the Financial Times reported. After investors expressed worries over sliding standards and the IMF singled the type of loan out as a potential source of financial instability, the Swiss investment bank’s asset management arm sent a confidential letter to clients in September attempting to assuage fears.

Shares in peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle traded as much as 24 per cent below their initial public offering price on their first day of trading, in a blow to aspirational fintech companies hoping to float, the Financial Times reported. At their low of the day, the company’s shares hit 334.5p, down from the IPO price of 440p. During conditional dealings on Tuesday, ahead of their official London Stock Exchange debut, the shares had been trading at a steep discount to the offer price, closing down 17 per cent at 364p, according to data from Refinitiv.

Some of Greece’s biggest banks suffered steep share price falls on Wednesday as investors worried they may not have enough capital to meet fresh targets on reducing their large portfolios of bad debts, the Financial Times reported. Shares in Piraeus Bank, the country’s largest lender by assets, dropped more than 20 per cent, cutting its market capitalisation to less than €600m. The bank responded by trying to reassure investors that its plan to boost capital by issuing €500m of subordinated bonds was still on track.

The latest collision between Italy’s markets and politics is beginning to fuel concern that shock waves could spread to elsewhere in Europe. As Italian bond yields touched a four-year high, the euro extended losses and the region’s equities slumped, while haven assets such as German bunds and the Swiss franc rallied, Bloomberg News reported. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Ulster Bank will give new complainants up until the end of the year to seek compensation from a scheme that was set up for companies whose businesses were impacted by being put into a controversial restructuring unit during the financial crisis, The Irish Times reported. The lender is currently issuing a follow-up letter to about 2,000 Irish customers who were put into the group’s now-defunct global restructuring group (GRG), informing them that they have until December 31st to file a complaint about their treatment in the division.

Sean Dunne’s Irish bankruptcy has been extended by 12 years by the High Court over “wilful and deliberate” failure to co-operate with the trustee administering his bankruptcy, including hiding or not disclosing information about certain assets, The Irish Times reported. Ms Justice Caroline Costello also ruled that Mr Dunne must pay €7,000 monthly to his Irish bankruptcy trustee to increase the assets available for his creditors.

French carmaker PSA Group is open to new industry tie-ups and is attracting attention from competitors after its lightning turnaround and swift progress in restructuring recently acquired Opel, Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said. The maker of Peugeot cars, which came close to bankruptcy in 2013-14, has rebounded under Tavares to record levels of profitability, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Greece wants to repay loans owed to its lenders from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund before they are due in a bid to cut its debt servicing costs, its finance minister said on Tuesday. Greece, whose public debt amounts to 180 percent of its gross domestic product, has received loans totalling about 280 billion euros under three international bailouts since 2010, Reuters reported. The ECB holds about 12 billion euros worth of Greek debt with an average maturity of four years and the IMF about 10 billion euros with an average maturity of three years.

The Moldovan government says loss-making national airline Air Moldova has been sold to a Romanian group for 1.2 billion Moldovan lei ($71 million). The Public Property Agency said Tuesday that Civil Aviation Group paid 50 million lei ($2.96 million) to Moldova's state budget, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. The remaining money from the purchase will go toward covering debts that were sold to prevent the airline's bankruptcy. Air Moldova was founded in 1983 and has flights to 33 destinations.