Argo Blockchain, a UK-based Bitcoin mining company listed on the London Stock Exchange, has entered a restructuring agreement that will likely see over 80% of its equity acquired by US group Growler Mining, UKTech.news reported. The firm announced in June that it was seeking a loan and restructuring deal described as “necessary to avoid an uncontrolled insolvency and liquidation”.

Around 30 million car finance loans are under scrutiny by the City watchdog to see if they qualify for mis-selling compensation payments, according to its chief executive, the Telegraph reported. On Tuesday, Nikhil Rathi, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive, said the agency was examining the agreements – which were taken out between 2007 and 2020 – to see if they were mis-sold by banks and qualify for the FCA’s mass redress scheme.

The number of new businesses launched in Yorkshire and the Humber fell in August, but insolvency-related activity also declined, according to research by restructuring, turnaround and insolvency trade body R3, InsiderMedia.com reported. The latest figures, based on data from Creditsafe, show that business start-ups across Yorkshire and the Humber dropped by 11.3 per cent in August compared to July, falling from 4,728 to 4,192. The region mirrored a national picture of declining start-up activity.

The European Central Bank is easing some of the checks it makes on euro zone banks, from how lenders get approval for share buybacks to how stress tests are carried out, ECB supervisor Sharon Donnery said on Monday, Reuters reported. The ECB is coming under pressure from lenders it oversees to ease the supervisory burden as the Trump administration promises easier rules in the United States and shadow banks gain ground in the credit business.

Irish government spending is accelerating at an unsustainable rate, and overruns in day-to-day spending are likely to top €2.5 billion by year end, the budgetary watchdog has warned, the Irish Times reported. In a prebudget statement the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) said spending overruns were more broad-based this year than in the previous years, with expenditure across education, children and justice already up by 7.5 per cent against a targeted increase of 2.5 per cent.

A Quebec Superior Court judge has declared the North American branch of battery manufacturer Northvolt insolvent as the provincial government seeks to recover $260 million owed to it, CBC.ca reported. Justice Janet Michelin on Friday placed Northvolt Batteries North America under creditor protection following a request earlier in the week from the province.

Italy was once Europe’s emblem for political instability, with a mounting debt and deficit and few options to fix the mess. Now, it’s France’s turn, and the situation is about to get worse, the New York Times reported. On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron’s government is expected to fall for the second time in just nine months after a confidence vote in Parliament. The French prime minister, François Bayrou, called a vote to shore up support for his plan to mend the country’s finances with 44 billion euros (a little over $51 billion) in spending cuts.

This past week, U.K. long-term borrowing costs hit their highest level in decades, causing Treasury chief Rachel Reeves to shoot down suggestions that the heavily indebted country is heading for a fiscal crisis, the Wall Street Journal reported. Most economists agree with her—for now. But in a world where industrialized nations have taken on record amounts of debt and are paying ever more to finance the borrowing, the U.K. could become the financial markets’ equivalent of the proverbial canary in the coal mine—a leading indicator of trouble for other debtors like the U.S.

German industrial production rebounded in July despite a further plunge in exports to the U.S., indicating the sector’s resilience in the face of tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Industrial output in Europe’s largest economy jumped 1.3% on month, the first rise since March, while June’s data was also revised upward to a decline of just 0.1% from the 1.9% slump originally reported, according to Germany’s statistics agency Destatis on Monday.