Europe

Europe must increase public investment by nearly $900 billion a year in sectors like technology and defense, according to a long-awaited report published Monday in response to growing anxieties about the continental economy’s lagging behind that of the United States and China, the New York Times reported. The challenge for the European Union is “existential,” Mario Draghi, a former president of the European Central Bank, said on Monday in Brussels.

Alternative asset manager Balbec Capital Management has bought a portfolio worth over €4 billion ($4.4 billion) of soured Portuguese loans from Luxembourg-based LX Partners, according to a statement seen by Bloomberg News. The portfolio has more than 300,000 restructured and non-performing loans, and its purchase is one of the largest such loan transactions in recent years, Balbec said. It’s one of the biggest portfolio purchases of non-performing loans for the firm since it was founded in 2010.

Air Belgium (KF) is nearing bankruptcy again, as a court in Nivelles has granted the airline a two-week extension to secure new financial backing, AirwaysMag.com reported. After almost a year of creditor protection, the airline has faced a significant drop in revenue—down 40%—following its cessation of passenger flights. The company is grappling with an annual loss of €22 million and a negative equity of €69 million, requiring at least €18 million in funding to avoid collapse.

British supermarket chain Asda Group Ltd. is set to face a crucial stage in its equal pay fight with workers in what could form the tip of an £8 billion ($10.6 billion) iceberg of claims against the biggest U.K. retailers, Bloomberg News reported. Just days after a recent victory for Next Plc employees, a hearing at Manchester’s employment tribunal on Monday will decide whether the jobs of more than 60,000 Asda retail workers, who are mostly women and paid lower hourly rates, were of equal value to the disproportionately male warehouse staff.

Germany hammered out a deal that offers a potential lifeline for struggling shipbuilder Meyer Werft GmbH, the privately-held company that recently won a follow-on contract to supply vessels for Disney Cruise Line’s fleet, Bloomberg News reported. The federal government will acquire a 40% stake in Meyer Werft along with “a stake of the same amount by the state of Lower Saxony,” according to Economy Ministry officials. The financing for the federal government amounts to around €200 million.

The long slide in German factory output continued in July, increasing the risk that the eurozone’s largest economy is falling into a second straight quarter of contraction, the Wall Street Journal reported. German factories have been faltering since 2018, but suffered a fresh blow when energy costs surged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Despite some hopeful signs at the start of this year, they have yet to embark on a sustained recovery.

The U.K. payments industry is still fighting for changes to fraud-reimbursement rules with just a month to go before they’re enacted, even after a significant U-turn by regulators this week, Bloomberg News reported. In an 11th-hour push, the Payments Association wrote to City Minister Tulip Siddiq on Friday, calling for the maximum reimbursement for victims of authorized-push-payment fraud to be cut to £30,000 ($39,000) — a “more appropriate” amount that would still cover 95% of fraud cases, the group said.

The UK is making further tweaks to water company insolvency laws as fears grow that debt-laden Thames Water will run out of money next year, Bloomberg News reported. The government is updating the special administration regime for water monopolies in England and Wales and is cracking down on executives heading up companies that leak sewage into rivers and the sea in a new bill introduced to parliament on Thursday.

German PV project developer Fellensiek Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG (FPM Projektmanagement) has filed for bankruptcy due to liquidity problems, PV-Magazine.com reported. The Wilhelmshaven District Court in northern Germany has ordered provisional insolvency administration for Fellensiek, appointing Christian Kaufmann from Pluta Rechtsanwalts GmbH as the provisional insolvency administrator on Sept. 3. Kaufmann said that business operations will continue with the 20 employees, and their salaries will be secured for three months.

A Swiss medical publisher has ceased operations, including shuttering nationally prominent journals, after its parent organization, the Swiss Medical Association FMH, allegedly forced it into bankruptcy, RetractionWatch.com reported. According to information on the website of EMH Swiss Medical Publishers, the Swiss Medical Association FMH holds a 55% stake in the firm. But on Aug.