Sir Philip Green has agreed a deal to pump as much as £50m a year into the pension fund behind his fashion business, Arcadia, to plug a growing deficit, just days after reaching a settlement over the BHS pension scandal, The Guardian reported. Arcadia, which controls Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge, will double payments into its pension scheme from £25m a year to £50m this year, potentially heading off another pensions controversy.

When the biggest Nordic bank turned its subsidiaries into branches, regulators in Finland, Denmark and Norway complained they were left with too-big-to fail operations but no power to rein them in. Oversight was instead left to Sweden. But the full consequences of Nordea Bank AB’s decision to consolidate its Nordic operations are only gradually becoming clear, Bloomberg News reported. In a step that’s expected to be copied elsewhere in the European Union, Stockholm-based Nordea’s restructuring was completed on Jan. 1 after long talks with the relevant Nordic authorities.

The fate of Europe’s biggest steel plant will edge closer towards resolution when a deadline falls on Monday for final bids to take control of the troubled facility in southern Italy, the Financial Times reported. The giant Taranto works, which has been at the centre of a saga involving environmental disaster, insolvency and temporary nationalisation, forms the core of the Ilva business up for sale by the Italian government. At stake are not just thousands of jobs, but a region’s industrial heritage and a pillar of Italy’s manufacturing sector.

Deutsche Bank is planning to raise capital, list its asset management unit and realign its divisions as it seeks to reinvent itself after spending about two years dealing with past misdeeds and massive losses, Reuters reported. Germany's flagship lender plans an 8 billion euro ($8.50 billion) rights issue, due to be launched on March 20, it said on Sunday, as it seeks to repair its balance sheet in the wake of a 15 billion euro legal bill incurred since 2012.

Eurozone inflation has reached its highest level in four years, climbing above the rate targeted by the European Central Bank and triggering renewed calls from Germany for rate-setters in Frankfurt to rein in their loose monetary stance, the Financial Times reported. The single currency area’s annual rate of inflation reached 2 per cent in February, driven by rising energy costs. The ECB has a mandate to keep inflation close to, but under, that level.

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen envisions the protective hand of the state guiding a reordered economy that punishes companies that fail to serve the interests of the nation and rewards those that put France first, the International New York Times reported on an Associated Press story. In a speech on Wednesday, Le Pen laid out the nationalist policies based on "economic patriotism" that would be put enacted if she wins the two-round presidential election.

The deadline for bids on the troubled Italian steelmaker Ilva, the owner of Europe’s largest steelworks, has been pushed back until next week, the Financial Times reported. Final offers to acquire the company, which has been at the centre of a saga involving environmental disaster, insolvency and temporary nationalisation, had been due on Friday. But a spokesperson for Ilva confirmed to the Financial Times that the cut-off would be delayed to Monday.

Credit Suisse Group AG’s push to expand in some areas of trading and across its wealth management businesses will make it harder to build up capital buffers at the same pace as last year, Chief Financial Officer David Mathers said. After selling billions in unwanted assets, the bank entered 2017 with a bigger capital ratio than analysts expected -- this in a year that ended up a loss following a $5.3 billion legal settlement, Bloomberg News reported.

More than 100 people turned out in Clonmel on Thursday night to protest against the decision by Bus Éireann to close the town’s regular service to Dublin, the Irish Times reported. The “Save Our Bus” meeting was organised by the National Bus and Railworkers Union (NBRU) in response to Bus Éireann’s cost-cutting plans which the company says are necessary as part of efforts to stave off insolvency plans. The X7 route, Dublin-Clonmel, is one of three to be axed by Bus Éireann, with its eight daily services each way.

Euro zone manufacturing growth accelerated to a six-year high in February as a weaker euro helped drive strong demand for its exports, with inflationary pressure showing further signs of recovering, a business survey showed. While the upturn in euro zone factory activity was not shared by all major economies, particularly France, prices rose faster across most countries in the region, Reuters reported.