European Union diplomats agreed on Wednesday to soften draft rules on the money banks should set aside to cover potential losses on new loans, in a move aimed at helping countries such as Italy that have huge piles of bad debt, Reuters reported. A decade on from the 2008 financial crisis, bad loans are still curbing many euro zone banks’ ability to lend and so support economic growth.

Sports Direct International Plc, the sportswear group controlled by billionaire Mike Ashley, said on Wednesday it had paid 8 million pounds ($10.2 million) to buy Evans Cycles after it fell into administration, Reuters reported. Sports Direct, which plans to keep half of Evans’ 62 stores open, also said about 2 million pounds of the acquisition price was used to fund Evans Cycles’ October payroll. The company has added to an already lengthy list of British investments by buying Evans Cycles on Tuesday.

Eurozone growth slowed sharply in the third quarter as new emissions tests hit German car production and the Italian economy stagnated amid a stand-off with Brussels over its national budget, the Financial Times reported. Gross domestic product for the bloc increased 0.2 per cent from the end of June, confounding expectations of economists polled by Reuters that the single currency area would maintain the 0.4 per cent pace of economic growth experienced during the second quarter of the year.

Rallye SA, the indebted parent of French retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA, may soon face a new front in its battle against short sellers, Bloomberg News reported. Distressed debt funds betting against the company have been buying up a Rallye bond due in January 2022 that may enable them to force a default, according to people familiar with the matter. That’s because the bond includes a clause stating that if the company’s net worth falls below a certain level, the investors can call in the debt if a majority agree, said the people, asking not to be identified because it’s private.

Italy’s economy came to a standstill in the third quarter, with gross domestic product failing to tick up from the previous period, amid political tumult and volatility in the country’s financial markets, the Financial Times reported. GDP was flat in the July to September period, the worst performance since the fourth quarter of 2014, according to official data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics. It was expected to expand 0.1 per cent, according to a poll conducted by Reuters, from a rise of 0.2 per cent in the previous quarter.

The number of companies in England and Wales falling into financial distress is rising at the fastest pace since 2009, according to data on Tuesday that suggests the trouble suffered by big firms is indicative of a wider, deep-seated trend, Reuters reported. Department store House of Fraser, fast food chain Gourmet Burger Kitchen and home improvements retailer Homebase are among well-known British businesses to seek creditor protection in recent months.

Major companies on Tuesday ruled out involvement in a new rescue of Alitalia, complicating a plan led by Rome in which state-controlled railway Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) will bid for the airline and look to bring in partners, Reuters reported. Alitalia was put under special administration last year, leaving the government once again seeking a buyer to save the carrier. It will be the airline’s third rescue in a decade. FS said its board had decided to put in an offer to buy Alitalia, but gave no further details.

The board of Italy’s state-owned railway operator will meet on Monday afternoon to discuss an offer for the whole of national carrier Alitalia, a source close to the matter said. Any offer by railway group Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) will be subject to series of conditions, including finding an industrial partner, the source said. Once a major player in the European airline industry, Alitalia has suffered in the face of competition from high-speed trains and low-cost carriers in recent years, eroding its market share and denting its profits, Reuters reported.

Two former executives of collapsed oil company Afren were sentenced to up to six years in prison on Monday after they were convicted of fraud and money laundering over a $300 million business deal, Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said, Reuters reported. Former Afren Chief Executive Osman Shahenshah and former Chief Operating Officer Shahid Ullah laundered more than $45 million, some of which was used to buy luxury properties in Mustique and the British Virgin Islands, the SFO said. "The significant sentences reflect the seriousness of this fraud.

A European Union plan to counter money laundering at banks urges a review of a series of recent high-profile cases but defers a comprehensive reform, a draft document seen by Reuters showed. The plan is a response to alleged money-laundering scandals involving banks in Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Spain, the Netherlands, Britain and Cyprus, with schemes often executed through foreign branches inside the EU, Reuters reported. The preliminary document, dated Oct.