A video game composer and sound designer best know for his work on the Tomb Raider series has been jailed for fraudulently applying for a Covid loan, CityAM reported. Peter Connelly, who is based in Durham, overstated his company’s turnover to obtain a second Bounce Back Loan of £37,500 in 2020 when businesses were only entitled to a single loan. Connelly had previously secured a legitimate Bounce Back Loan worth £22,000 one month earlier. The 52-year-old, of Lambton Court, Peterlee, was jailed for 16 months at a hearing of Durham Crown Court on Thursday, 17 July.

Europe's commercial real estate market is defying expectations of a recovery as investor caution pins property sales to near-decade lows, Reuters reported. Some investors and banks, recognising that the outlook remains weak, are even beginning to step in to offload or restructure distressed assets, one executive said, though they added that an "extend and pretend" approach to bad debts is still commonplace. It is a marked change in mood from the beginning of 2025 when there were hopes for an end to a three-year pandemic-induced downturn, but unpredictable U.S.

Some of Russia’s top banking executives have concluded that the quality of their loan books is much worse than what official data show and have privately discussed the prospect of seeking a state-funded bailout should the situation worsen, Bloomberg News reported. At least three lenders the central bank has identified as systemically important have considered the possibility that they may need to be recapitalized in the next 12 months. Executives have discussed internally how they would raise the prospect with the Bank of Russia if needed.

The UK jobs market has continued to weaken, making the prospect of an interest rate cut next month even more likely, analysts say, BBC.com reported. The annual rate of pay growth in the three months between March and May slowed to 5%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The unemployment rate has risen to 4.7%, its highest in four years, while the number of job vacancies has now been falling continuously for three years. The government said that "we need to go further" to improve the economy, while the Conservatives said the unemployment rise was a "disgrace".

The European Union began proceedings against Spain over its intervention in banking mergers after the government blocked the legal combination of BBVA BBVA 0.59%increase; green up pointing triangle and Sabadell SAB 0.24%increase; green up pointing triangle for at least three years, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Inflation unexpectedly rose in the U.K., likely keeping policymakers at the Bank of England cautious despite a limping economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The rate of annual inflation was 3.6% in June, up from 3.4% in May, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed Wednesday. The uptick echoes the situation in the U.S., where inflation picked up pace to 2.7% last month from 2.4% in May as prices rose among items sensitive to President Trump’s trade tariffs, such as toys and clothes.

Thousands of UK companies have been removed from the Companies House register over the last year, following a crackdown coordinated by the National Economic Crime Centre, according to a press release. These companies were not compliant with Registered Office requirements under the Companies Act 2006. The project was designed to identify and enable enforcement action against high-risk company incorporation locations and corporate entities believed to be enabling criminality in the UK and overseas.

Austrian prosecutors said on Tuesday they were bringing an insolvency-related fraud case against the former billionaire founder of the collapsed Signa property group, Rene Benko, Reuters reported. Benko has been in custody for more than five months as the Central Prosecutors' Office for Economic Crimes and Corruption (WKStA) carries out a wide-ranging investigation into a range of offences including several counts of fraud he and other unnamed people are suspected of.

Thames Water has been accused of “holding a gun to the taxpayer’s head” by warning it may have to be nationalised if it is not handed a reprieve on historical fines, The Telegraph reported. MPs said Thames was asking to be “let off the hook” as it warned there was a “material uncertainty” over whether a £17bn rescue deal led by creditors would succeed.