Germany’s government decided to keep its stake in Commerzbank until further notice, after a sale of a portion of its shares to Italy’s UniCredit sparked speculation about a potential takeover, The Wall Street Journal reported. The German government — the biggest shareholder in Commerzbank — said Friday that it won’t offload any additional shares in the bank following the sale to UniCredit for 702 million euros ($783.5 million) completed last week, which reduced its ownership to 12% from 16.49%.
Resources Per Country
- Albania
- Austria
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Guernsey
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Italy
- Jersey
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- Vatican City
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Proper Group AG, the Swiss company formerly known as Utopia Music AG, has been hit with bankruptcy proceedings by a court in Switzerland, Complete Music Update reported. The “provisional announcement of bankruptcy” was filed on Tuesday after Proper Group failed to attend a court hearing relating to a debt of CHF 23,000.
Polish energy sector construction firm Rafako, based in the town of Racibórz, lodged an application for bankruptcy in a court on Thursday and its shares were suspended from trading on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, TVP World reported. “Without a deal on our debt it will be impossible to find a strategic investor for the company. It will also be impossible to continue operations or a return to trading on the stock market,” company chairman Maciej Stańczuk told the Businessinsider website, after attempts to persuade creditors to take shares in the firm in exchange for debt fell apart.
Switzerland’s central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate for the third straight meeting as it pivots away from worries about high inflation toward concerns about the impact of a strong currency on exporters, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Swiss National Bank lowered its key rate to 1% from 1.25%, having cut borrowing costs by the same amount in June. Three months earlier, it became the first central bank from a rich, developed economy to ease policy since the start of the global inflation surge in 2021. The central bank said it might lower borrowing costs again.
The Czech Republic’s central bank on Wednesday cut its key interest rate for the seventh time in a row as inflation remains low and amid the economy’s slow recovery, the Associated Press reported. The cut, which had been predicted by analysts, brought the interest rate down by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25%. The bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, the first cut since June 22, 2022. Further cuts of half a percentage point each time followed on Feb. 8, March 20, May 2 and June 27. Another cut by a quarter of a percentage point came on Aug 1.
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In the seven years that he has been France’s president, Emmanuel Macron has bet on tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations as a recipe for stimulating the economy. His new government is about to tear up that playbook. Faced with a rapid deterioration in the nation’s finances, Mr.
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Germany’s economy is likely to gather pace as several of the causes behind its recent weakness prove short-lived, according to Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel, Bloomberg News reported. Some of the factors holding back growth — which include elevated inflation, reluctant consumers and high interest rates — will probably only be “temporary,” Nagel said Tuesday in a speech, while acknowledging some longer-term structural problems that must be addressed.
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Sweden’s central bank cut its key interest rate for the third time this year and said borrowing costs will likely be lowered again soon as a faltering economy threatens to push inflation further below its target, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Riksbank cut its key rate to 3.25% from 3.5%, in line with a poll of economists conducted by The Wall Street Journal ahead of the decision. “If the outlook for inflation and economic activity remains unchanged, the policy rate may also be cut at the two remaining monetary policy meetings this year,” the Riksbank said.
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Europe’s real estate firms have raised $5.6 billion this year via equity offerings as landlords gear up to bolster their finances, Bloomberg News reported. The proceeds from initial public offerings and share sales in listed companies exceed the amount for the same period in 2023 more than three times, according to Bloomberg calculations. In the latest deal, beleaguered Swedish landlord SBB is offering 49% of the shares in its residential unit Sveafastigheter AB.
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