Year-end turmoil rocked Europe’s money markets in 2016, so traders were as ready as they could be this time around. And yet, it happened again, The Wall Street Journal reported. On Dec. 29, the last trading day of 2017, the interest rate on one-day loans secured by German government bonds plummeted to minus 4.4%, from minus 0.7% a week before. There was a similar plunge for French, Dutch and Belgian bonds. The sudden drop—roughly as deep as 2016’s—reflects a scramble by banks to temporarily reduce lending and borrowing on the day regulators assess their balance sheets.

British Airways’ owner IAG said on Friday it would buy Niki, Air Berlin’s insolvent Austrian holiday airline, for 20 million euros ($24.01 million) and provide additional liquidity to the company of up to 16.5 million euros, Reuters reported. The sale to IAG, which had been in exclusive talks for the airline, is the final chapter in the demise of Air Berlin, the No. 2 German air carrier that previously owned Niki and filed for insolvency earlier this year.

The UK will remain a relative laggard among developed countries this year as the after-effects of the Brexit referendum mean the economy will only enjoy limited benefits from a global upswing in growth, economists said in the FT’s annual survey of the profession. Forecasts for growth during 2018 clustered around 1.5 per cent as the UK will be pulled in two separate directions next year as uncertainty over the outcome of the Brexit negotiations reduces growth at the same time as an upswing in global activity boosts exports, the Financial Times reported.

Global equity raising rose by almost a fifth in 2017 and bankers expect issuance to increase further in 2018 as the improving global economy and buoyant stock markets drive larger flotations and rights issues to finance acquisitions, Reuters reported. Companies raised $780.2 billion in equity in 2017, up 19 percent from $656.4 billion last year, Thomson Reuters Equity Capital Markets data up to Dec. 26 showed. Global proceeds from initial public share offerings (IPOs) rose by 35 percent to $178.6 billion in 2017.

Emmanuel Macron’s attempts to revamp France’s labour market will spur economic growth and boost confidence but their impact will take time to have an effect, according to a Financial Times survey of eurozone analysts. The poll of 34 economists conducted this month also found that most believed a new “grand coalition” government in Germany would help the eurozone to continue its recovery — but Italy’s impending election was seen as one of the biggest risks.

British IAG is in exclusive talks to buy Niki, Air Berlin’s insolvent Austrian airline after Niki’s administrator said that one bidder out of four remained, Reuters reported. Besides IAG, the owner of British Airways and low-cost carrier Vueling, bidders for holiday airline Niki included tour operators TUI, Thomas Cook and former Formula One world champion Niki Lauda. Niki Lauda, Niki’s founder, was quoted as saying on the website of newspaper Die Presse that he was out of the running. A source said Thomas Cook was also out of the race.

Irish banks will be pressed to take stakes in family homes next year in swaps for mortgage debt as part of a push to resolve some of the most distressed personal insolvency cases, the Irish Times reported. The first cases involving the use of so-called debt-for-equity swaps are expected to be decided by the courts in 2018 as the little-known measure within existing personal insolvency legislation is used to solve some of the worst mortgage arrears cases where loans have not been paid for years.

Around 790 staff working for insolvent airline Niki in Austria will be paid monthly wages for December, administrator Lucas Floether said on Wednesday, adding he was confident of striking a deal with a new investor in the next few days, Reuters reported. The new owner would be expected to take on Niki’s running costs, including salaries, from the beginning of January. Among the four bidders selected for the final stages of talks to buy all or parts of Niki is IAG, the owner of British Airways and low-cost carrier Vueling.

The Kremlin said yesterday that it hoped an out-of-court settlement reached between Russia’s largest oil producer Rosneft and the Sistema conglomerate would be implemented smoothly, Reuters reported. In a phone call with reporters, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin hoped the settlement, under which Rosneft will receive 100 billion roubles ($1.72 billion) from businessman Yevtushenkov’s Sistema, will not run into any problems.

IAG, the owner of British Airways and low-cost carrier Vueling, is one of the four bidders selected for the final stages of talks over the assets of insolvent Austrian airline Niki, Reuters reported. IAG had made an offer for Niki as a whole and was the frontrunner in talks for the carrier, the three sources told Reuters. If no deal is struck with IAG, it is possible that Niki will be carved up among several buyers. British tour operator Thomas Cook and Niki’s founder, former Formula One world champion Niki Lauda, are also among the four, Lauda told German daily Handelsblatt.