German retail sales unexpectedly slipped in August, marking the second disappointing reading in a row for the country’s retail trade and fuelling concerns over growth in Europe’s biggest economy, the Financial Times reported. Retail sales fell by 0.1. per cent in August compared to the previous month, according to data published by Germany’s Federal Statistics Office. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a 0.4 per cent rise. However, on an year on year basis, turnover in Germany’s retail trade increased by 1.6 per cent, above analyst expectations of 1.5 per cent.

The City is bracing itself for an uncertain six months in the run-up to the UK’s departure from the European Union, the Financial Times reported. Operators of the crucial market infrastructure that ensures that money flows around the world — from exchanges, and fixed income markets to clearing and settlement houses — are activating their plans for life outside the EU. Some of London’s biggest markets operators, such as TP ICAP, Thomson Reuters, Cboe Europe and Turquoise are setting up hubs in Europe, centred on Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin.

Outsourcing firm Mitie Group Plc said on Monday it would sell its pest control business to Rentokil Initial Plc for 40 million pounds cash, as it looks to focus on its core businesses as part of a restructuring, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The company, which provides cleaning, security and healthcare services, has been restructuring after a string of profit warnings, which it has blamed on rising costs and Brexit uncertainty.

Shares of Avocet Mining dropped more than 17 percent on Monday after warning that it could be broken up as the struggling gold miner continues talks with its largest shareholder, Elliott Management, to restructure its debt, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The company, which debuted on the London Stock Exchange in 2007 at 1,200 pence a share, has lost nearly all of its value and was trading at 9.9 pence. The stock was the largest percentage loser on the exchange.

The Greek government is urging bailout inspectors to drop their insistence that it cuts pension further next year, arguing the country is on target to beat budget targets without doing so, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. In its draft 2019 budget, tabled to parliament Monday, the government said Greece's economy will grow 2.5 percent next year, with debt and unemployment steadily falling too. In the 44-page document , it said the issue of pension cuts would be decided later this year.

Primera Air, a low-cost carrier, has ceased operations and announced it will close as of October 2 after it failed to secure financing, the Financial Times reported. In an announcement on its website, the Latvian-based airline said: “On behalf of Primera Air team, we would like to thank you for your loyalty. On this sad day we are saying goodbye to all of you.” The airline flew nine Boeing aircraft from bases in countries including Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. It offered transatlantic flights from Birmingham and Stansted airports in the UK.

Finance ministers from the eurozone’s largest economies have urged Italy’s populist government to respect the bloc’s spending rules, as they pushed Rome for clarity on its plans to tear up a previous budget agreement with Brussels, the Financial Times reported. Eurozone finance ministers on Monday met for the first time since Italy’s populist coalition last week presented a spending plan that would inflate Italy’s budget deficit to an estimated 2.4 per cent over the next three years.

Italy’s new populist leaders appear to be sticking to the program that brought them to power: In their budget plans, they’re charting a course that could ultimately put the entire European project at risk, a Bloomberg View reported. One can only hope that they will see reason. Since forming a government last spring, the coalition of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and right-wing League has kept everyone guessing about its genuine intentions. Its leaders made expensive promises to Italians, including big tax cuts, a lower retirement age, and even a basic income.

As investors scrambled for more clarity on the Italian budget plan that roiled its markets on Friday, at least one thing was clear: Ten years after the financial crisis, the sovereign-bank “doom loop” still haunts Europe, Bloomberg News reported. A selloff that started in government bonds quickly spread to the debt and shares of the country’s lenders as investors latched onto a problem policy makers have been unable to resolve in that decade -- the potentially vicious cycle between over-indebted governments and the weak banks that funded them.

Russian potash producer Uralkali announced legal action against the administrators of the Force India Formula One team on Thursday after having a bid rejected in what it called a “flawed sale process,” Reuters reported. The company said in a statement it was seeking substantial damages in the London High Court for “prejudicial and unequal treatment”. Joint administrators Geoff Rowley and Jason Baker, for FRP Advisory LLP, said they were confident the claim would be dismissed “at the earliest opportunity”.