Deutsche Bank faces the threat of a European Central Bank investigation after buying and selling its own debt for more than three years without regulatory approval, said people familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported. Employees at Germany’s biggest lender forgot to apply for the necessary approval to buy and sell its additional tier 1 (AT1) bonds between 2014 and 2017, which it did to help ensure liquidity in the securities, one of the people said.

Insolvent German wind turbine manufacturer Senvion on Monday agreed on exclusive talks with Siemens Gamesa over the sale of a substantial part of its business, Reuters reported. Senvion, which is in self-administration after becoming insolvent in April, said it planned to hammer out a final deal on certain services and onshore assets in Europe in negotiations with the German-Spanish wind energy company by the end of the month. The agreement on exclusive talks is consistent with insolvency plans adopted by the creditors’ assembly on Sept.

For years the German economy prospered as its companies benefited from growing global trade and freedom to export. France, with a much more domestically focused economy, was a laggard. But now the tables have been turned, the Financial Times reported. In an environment of increasing trade hostility, France’s strength in services and domestic consumption is proving a boon while German exports are suffering as a result of the country’s dependence on the Chinese market for cars and industrial equipment.

Eurozone industrial production contracted more than expected in July, dragged down by a sharp fall in Germany and marking the latest batch of bleak economic data ahead of Thursday’s meeting of the European Central Bank, the Financial Times reported. The single currency area’s industrial output contracted 0.4 per cent in July over the previous month, according to official data from Eurostat. Compared to the same month last year, factory output in the 19 eurozone countries was down 2 per cent, worse than the 1.3 per cent fall expected by economists polled by Reuters.

BMW would reduce output at its plant in Oxford by eliminating a work shift should the UK opt for a hard Brexit, according to its chief financial officer, The Irish Times reported. The German carmaker already plans to completely halt production on the October 31st deadline when Britain is expected to leave the European Union, as well as on November 1st, CFO Nicolas Peter said at the Frankfurt motor show.

Autos have made Germany into a global manufacturing powerhouse, but pollution concerns -- intensified by Volkswagen AG’s 2015 diesel-cheating scandal -- have sullied the reputation of a product that once embodied individual freedom, Bloomberg News reported. More recently, trade woes and slowing economies have hit demand. The consequence is Germany’s car production slumping to the lowest level since at least 2010.

Factory production in Germany dropped in July, highlighting the weakening state of the eurozone’s biggest economy as it teeters on the brink of recession, the Financial Times reported. Industrial output in July fell 0.6 per cent from the previous month, improving on a revised decline of 1.1 per cent in June but off the expected 0.3 per cent climb that was forecast in a Reuters poll, the national statistics office said on Friday. Production was down 4.2 per cent from July 2018.

Ayondo GmbH (AYG), the Frankfurt-based subsidiary of the retail trading group, has filed for insolvency, Finance Magnates reported. Updates on the group’s stock exchange news feed indicate that the company, which provides social trading services, made the filings on 14th of August. Just over a week later, on the 22nd of August, ayondo also said that ayondo Holding AG, a Swiss subsidiary of the group and the parent company of AYG, had also filed for insolvency.

Deutsche Bank’s chief executive has warned about the negative side effects of a likely cut in interest rates by the European Central Bank next week, arguing it would do little to stimulate the economy but would deepen divisions in society, the Financial Times reported. Christian Sewing told a banking conference in Frankfurt that an expected lowering of eurozone interest rates further into negative territory “may make refinancing cheaper for governments but it will have serious side-effects”.

Germany’s export-dependent economy is suffering from a Brexit shock that along with the rise in global trade tensions and structural changes in the car industry, threatens to push Europe’s economic powerhouse into recession, the Financial Times reported. In the three months to June, exports to Britain dropped 21 per cent quarter on quarter, the biggest fall since the financial crisis a decade ago, contributing to the 0.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter contraction in GDP that Germany experienced in the same period.