eeply subordinated debt issued by German Landesbanken lost as much as six points in the past week as investors factored in the possibility that debt issued by banks that fail Europe's coming stress tests will suffer painful haircuts, Reuters reported. HSH Nordbank, Munich Hypo and Nord/LB are just some of the banks investors are nervously watching as they prepare for the worst when the European Central Bank (ECB) releases the results of its bank health check later this month.

Germany and France have tapped a prominent economist from each country for policy advice to counter “the risk of a lost decade in Europe” in an attempt to bridge the growing divide between the two countries over how to revive flagging economic growth in Europe. German Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel and French Economy and Industry Minister Emmanuel Macron recently solicited help from French economist Jean Pisani-Ferry and Henrik Enderlein, lecturers at the Berlin-based Hertie School of Governance, in separate letters seen by The Wall Street Journal.

Ever since the French government unveiled its 2015 budget two weeks ago, fiscal enforcers in Brussels have attempted to convince Paris it must do more – making additional spending cuts and implementing more reforms – for them to accept the plan, the Financial Times reported. In recent days, as the prospect of an EU rejection became imminent, the discussions moved beyond the normal economic channels, pulling in members of the still-to-be-approved European Commission, including Jean-Claude Juncker, its incoming president, and Frenchman Pierre Moscovici, his economic nominee.

A liquidator has alleged members of a family perpetrated a fraud against their own development firm before it went bust by transferring a €4 million company property to themselves for no charge. A tax bill of €4.4 million remains unpaid, the liquidator said, the Irish Times reported.

The Espírito Santo Financial Group, which at one point held about 25 percent of the bailed-out Portuguese lender Banco Espírito Santo, said on Thursday that it would file for bankruptcy after it was denied creditor protection by a Luxembourg court last week, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Espírito Santo Financial is part of a complex web of companies controlled by the Espírito Santo family.

A drop in German exports added to a string of ugly data for Europe’s biggest economy, suggesting Germany’s growth has faltered and the country might even be in a shallow recession, The Wall Street Journal reported. German exports in August fell 5.8% from the previous month, data released on Thursday showed, the biggest monthly decline since the 2009 recession. The slide in exports came after poor readings for German manufacturing orders and factory output, and added to the gloom surrounding Europe’s economic outlook.

Greece should have a precautionary credit line to help it regain normal access to bond markets, the head of the IMF said Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported. “The country would be, in our view, in a better position if it had precautionary support,” International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a news conference. The IMF’s precautionary facilities give countries access to a credit line that can assure investors the country can pay its obligations, keeping borrowing costs down.

“We will not kick you when you are down, at least not for a couple of days”: that is the gist of a putative deal struck by 18 global banks this week, which agreed not to pull abruptly out of contracts with each other if one of them hits the buffers. As modest as that may sound, regulators see it as the foundation of a firewall to halt the spread of future financial crises, The Economist reported. The agreement concerns derivatives, contracts whose value “derives” from the performance of an underlying asset such as a share, currency or bond.

Ukraine will need additional bailout financing from outside the International Monetary Fund to keep the war-torn economy afloat, the head of the IMF said Thursday. The cost of the conflict with Russia-backed separatists has changed the country’s cash needs since the IMF originally designed a $30 billion international bailout program in April, of which the fund pledged to cover $17 billion.

Trade-only bed bank Transhotel has entered a three-month voluntary administration period as it seeks a buyer to resolve cash-flow issues, Travel Weekly reported. The bed bank, based in Spain, is continuing to trade and will honour bookings. It is in the process of contacting all travel agent and supplier partners to reassure them bookings are safe and to avoid any “knee-jerk reaction” in the trade. Under Spanish law, a company can put itself into voluntary administration for three months to get its finances back in order or prior to closing down.