France's competition watchdog has raided auditing firms as part of an anti-trust investigation, it said on Wednesday, while La Lettre financial publication said the "Big Four" firms Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PWC were among those targeted, Reuters reported. Autorite de la Concurrence, as the watchdog is known, on Tuesday carried out "unannounced inspections to visit and seize documents" at several companies offering services of auditing and financial reporting certification, it said in a statement. Deloitte said it had no comment to make, when contacted by Reuters about the matter.

Inflation in France cooled in December — a reading that comes after the European Central Bank’s decision to hold interest rates at the end of last year, EuroNews.com reported. Consumer prices (CPI) rose by 0.8% year-on-year in December, following a reading of 0.9% in November, according to statistics body INSEE. The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices or HICP, which allows for comparison between EU countries, came to 0.7%. That followed a reading of 0.8% in November.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for a change in approach to monetary policy at the European Central Bank to boost the single market and protect it from the risks of financial crisis, Bloomberg News reported. In an unusual move by a euro-zone leader to comment on the region’s central bank, Macron said in an interview with Les Echos the ECB needs to think differently if the European Union wants to capitalize on its strengths such as its domestic market and high savings rate. Read more.

A coalition of thousands of French retailers has sued the Chinese fast fashion retailer Shein, accusing it of unfair competition, according to the French Retail Council, a move that escalated a backlash against the company in France this week, the New York Times reported. The class action suit, filed on Wednesday in a commercial court in southern France, was brought on by 12 federations and 100 large French brands.

he French government is preparing to sue a British private equity firm over claims it short-changed a failed local steelmaker, The Telegraph reported. Roland Lescure, the French finance minister, said the government would be “uncompromising” as he accused Greybull of failing to follow through on investment pledges for Novasco, which is based in Hagondange, a city in north east France. The situation has led to months of uncertainty for the 700 people employed by Novasco, after the company was placed into administration in August – a year after it was taken over by Greybull.

Gauzy Ltd. has announced that insolvency proceedings have been initiated by the Commercial Court of Lyon, France, affecting three of its French subsidiaries, leading to a postponement of its third-quarter financial results originally scheduled for November 14, QuiverQuant.com reported. The company firmly opposes the court's ruling, plans to appeal the decision, and is currently collaborating with the appointed administrators to resolve the situation. Despite the legal challenges, Gauzy intends to maintain normal business operations and ensure financial stability for its subsidiaries.

German manufacturing orders and industrial production in France rebounded in September, signaling a recovery in the factory sector after trade uncertainty dented demand over the summer, the Wall Street Journal reported. Total orders rose 1.1% on month in Germany, swinging from a 0.4% fall in August, statistics agency Destatis said Wednesday. Meanwhile, industrial output in France climbed 0.8% on month, offsetting much of the 0.9% fall in the prior month, France’s statistics agency Insee said.

The wine industry in Bordeaux is facing a deep crisis, with falling demand, declining prices, and a growing number of vineyards at risk of abandonment. In response, the Confédération Paysanne de Gironde has called for the creation of a public land management agency to help steer the region through this difficult period, Vinetur reported. The proposal was presented on Thursday at a meeting of the prefecture’s viticulture task force in Gironde.

The latest tour operator to land in bankruptcy proceedings is the expedition cruise line Exploris Expeditions & Voyages. Based out of Nantes in France, the cruise operator was placed under receivership by a local judge. "Unfortunately, we have a small cash flow problem that has been exacerbated by this last-minute cancellation by a major charterer, which has made things extremely difficult for us," Expedis VP Éric Lustman said in a statement translated from French.