A group led by ArcelorMittal has won the race to buy Ilva, the Italian owner of Europe’s biggest steel plant that was nationalised after an alleged environmental disaster, the Financial Times reported. Carlo Calenda, Italy’s economic development minister, signed a decree on Monday approving the €1.8bn offer, led by the world’s largest steelmaker, in a move that will deliver the century-old industrial concern back into private ownership.

Worries about Banco Popular’s stuttering sale process sent shares to another record low on Monday morning, after two of the main potential bidders pulled out of the auction with less than a week to go, the Financial Times reported. The Spanish government appealed for calm on Friday as the bank’s shares dropped sharply, but investors appeared to be unconvinced on Monday morning. Shares in Popular were down a further 12.1 per cent at publication time at €0.363, having hit a low of €0.336.

António Costa may soon discover that success brings its own problems. Portugal’s proudly anti-austerity prime minister is ebullient after returning the former bailout country to fiscal health and presiding over a robust economic recovery, the Financial Times reported. Lisbon is no longer in breach of the EU’s budget rules — a decision he calls a “turning point” for the country’s international reputation — and the economy looks set for its strongest expansion in almost two decades. Unemployment is falling at one of the fastest rates in Europe.

In the shadow of Italy's banking crisis, a much smaller financial emergency is unfolding in the tiny nation of San Marino, a wealthy enclave of 34,000 people perched on the picturesque slopes of the Apennines mountains, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. The central bank of San Marino, a former tax haven landlocked inside central Italy, plans to inject liquidity into its ailing lenders, a first step toward overhauling them and finding new equity capital, said a source close to the matter.

VTB, Russia's second-biggest lender, is ready to talk about restructuring Mozambique's debt and has provided all the information required for a forensic audit into hidden loans to three state-owned firm to authorities, a bank's executive said, Reuters reported. The audit of the loans to EMATUM, Proindicus and Mozambique Asset Management (MAM), is a condition for the International Monetary Fund to resume aid talks with one of the world's poorest countries.

A Greek debt relief scenario that put back interest payments until 2048 would mean the nation's euro zone creditors deferring receipt of up to 123 billion euros (£106.8 billion), according to a forecast by Germany's Finance Ministry. The ministry's calculations, which were contained in a letter to a member of parliament seen by Reuters on Friday, contemplated the various restructuring scenarios laid out by the euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

A failure to find a solution to a crisis gripping Italy's Veneto-based banks would result in consequences similar in impact to a default by Greece, the head of one of the banks was quoted as saying on Friday. Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca have requested a state bailout to help fill a combined capital shortfall of 6.4 billion euros ($7.2 billion), the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

European Union member states can use public funds to help struggling banks dispose of soured loans, but only within the limits of laws put in place since the financial crisis, according to an EU report. While EU law normally stipulates that the need for “extraordinary public financial support” means a bank is failing and should be wound down, an exception is made for temporary state aid, known as a precautionary recapitalization, to address a capital shortfall identified in a stress test, Bloomberg News reported.

Shares in Spanish lender Banco Popular have shed over 8 per cent this morning to at least a 28-year low, following reports that senior EU officials have warned the bank could be wound down if it fails to find a buyer. Yesterday, Reuters reported that Elke Koenig, the head of the eurozone body that winds up failing banks, issued an “early warning” on the state of the lender’s fate if it fails to complete a merger. Earlier this month, Spain’s sixth largest bank said it had received several approaches about a merger.

Brussels and Italy have agreed on a rescue of Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank, outlining a draft plan that involves significant cost cuts, some investors taking a hit and executives facing a cap on pay, the Financial Times reported. The announcement brings the long-running saga over the future of Italy’s oldest lender towards a close, with Rome signing off on an investor bail-in and the kind of deep restructuring MPS fiercely resisted for more than a year.