Italy's Industry Minister Adolfo Urso announced a deal on Tuesday to avert 249 layoffs at suppliers to Stellantis, saying he hoped the breakthrough would help repair strained relations with the carmaker, Reuters reported. Stellantis and Italy's government have been at loggerheads for months, with politicians in Rome accusing Fiat's parent company and its CEO Carlos Tavares of neglecting historic Italian manufacturing sites and moving production abroad.

A group of current and former Vodafone franchisees in the UK filed a legal claim against the company on Tuesday over alleged cuts to their commission payments and remuneration at short notice and with little to no explanation since 2020, Reuters reported. Some of the 61 claimants, who are seeking over 120 million pounds ($153.05 million), said in a statement that Vodafone's actions had caused them and their families severe financial and personal distress, including reaching the edge of bankruptcy.

Banks have offloaded their debt exposure to Italian toymaker Giochi Preziosi SpA to alternative asset managers after getting engulfed in restructuring talks, Bloomberg News reported. Banco BPM SpA and UniCredit SpA have sold their Giochi Preziosi debt to DeA Capital, while Intesa Sanpaolo SpA offloaded its exposure to Sagitta SGR SpA, an Arrow Global-backed firm advised by Europa Investimenti. Giochi Preziosi has been in talks with lenders for months, after the majority of its roughly €250 million ($265 million) in debt came due earlier this year.

The leader of Dudley Council has said "unpopular measures" will save his authority from the risk of effective bankruptcy, BBC.com reported. Patrick Harley told BBC Politics Midlands that a tough budget for next year would allow the council to build rather than deplete its reserves. But he accepted measures such as charging for green waste collections, scrapping free car parking and reducing staff numbers would be unpopular. The councillor's assessment comes five months after a review of the authority found "extremely limited" progress in dealing with its financial challenges.

An essential ingredient in economic policymaking, from interest rates to government spending, is reliable data. But government officials, economists and other number crunchers in Britain are expressing deepening concern over a long-running issue with a data set used to understand a crucial area: the country’s jobs market, the New York Times reported.

Just weeks after the collapse of Swedish battery maker Northvolt AB, its founder Vargas Holding is turning its attention to another energy-intensive industry that needs cleaning up, Bloomberg News reported. Partnering with Rio Tinto Plc, Fortum Oyj and Mitsubishi Corp., Vargas plans to build a low-carbon primary aluminum plant in Finland that could be up and running late this decade. The project — named Arctial — would add another piece to the Swedish investment firm’s portfolio that also includes green steel, textile recycling and heat pumps.

Solarmax, a German inverter and battery storage systems specialist with more than 30 years of experience, is facing insolvency. Last week, a German district court opened preliminary insolvency proceedings against the Bayern-based company, PV-Magazine.com reported. The Neu-Ulm district court judges appointed Michael Pluta of Pluta Rechtsanwalts GmbH as preliminary insolvency administrator, as his law firm published on Friday. A statement from Pluta said Solarmax was experiencing financial difficulties due to market conditions.

Recaro has been rescued from bankruptcy. The financial lifeboat comes courtesy of Proma Group, an Italian automotive parts supplier, which yesterday announced that it had signed an investment agreement to take over operations for the world's oldest seat maker, Car and Driver reported. Proma said in a press release that its investment will allow Recaro Automotive, which is based in Germany, to continue operations amidst a transitional phase. That will lead to a European relaunch in January, when OEM production will move to Italy.

Norway’s banks may face higher risks from a potential home price rally in a nation with the most indebted households in the developed world, its financial watchdog warned, Bloomberg News reported. The planned easing of lending regulations from January would boost housing valuations, Per Mathis Kongsrud, director general of the Financial Supervisory Authority, said in an interview in Oslo. Should the expected reduction in credit costs turn out steeper than projected, it could lead to “a rather sharp” rise in home prices, he said.

German industrial production fell again in October as the sector continued to struggle, with swathes of layoffs and potential trade tariffs threatening to compound the problem, the Wall Street Journal reported. Output dropped 1.0% on month in October, German statistics agency Destatis said Friday, weaker than the 1.0% uptick expected by economists in a poll compiled by The Wall Street Journal. Production declined by 2.0% in September, and by 0.4% in the three months to October.