Deutsche Bank AG agreed to sell its 20 percent stake in Huaxia Bank Co. to PICC Property and Casualty Co. as co-Chief Executive John Cryan advances plans to narrow the company’s focus and raise capital buffers, Bloomberg News reported today. The sale will generate as much as 25.7 billion yuan ($4 billion), Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank said today. Cryan, who took over from Anshu Jain in July, is selling assets and reducing bonuses to help raise the company’s financial strength without tapping shareholders for funds.

European anti-fraud investigators said on Wednesday that they were looking into whether Volkswagen misused hundreds of millions of dollars in low-interest loans — threatening a significant source of funding for the crisis-struck automaker, the International New York Times reported.

Korean Company Sambo Motors Co. Ltd has taken control of German tuning company Carlsson, GTSpirit.com reported. The Korean company has promised further investment for the Saarland Merzig company and has sought to reassure Carlsson’s employees that their jobs are secure. Sambo was one of four bidders to made a binding offer during the insolvency process. Carlsson entered into liquidation in April this year following a poor year of sales.

German prosecutors have opened another investigation into Volkswagen, this one focusing on whether the company broke local tax laws by making false claims about its vehicles’ carbon dioxide emissions, the International New York Times reported. In addition, there were signs on Tuesday that allegations of emissions cheating could spread to other carmakers, after an environmental organization in Berlin said tests by a Swiss university showed suspicious pollution readings from a Renault passenger van.

Lufthansa cancelled almost 1,000 flights for Monday after a union for its striking cabin crews announced plans to expand its work stoppages to Munich airport, the Irish Times reported. The airline said it was ready to resume negotiations. UFO, the cabin crews’ union, said talks over disputed retirement rules collapsed, triggering the resumption of strikes after a pause on Sunday. Day-long strikes will begin at 4.30am on Monday in Munich, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf and continue for at least 18 hours, the union said.

The Karlsruhe, Germany-based communications business Comsoft has declared itself insolvent. The specialist in air traffic control and air traffic management software is well known as a solution provider in the market and provides air navigation systems and services to civil and military air traffic control authorities. In addition, a satellite communications technology subsidiary – Comsoft Satellite Services – in which Comsoft holds a 60 per cent stake filed for insolvency on the same day – October 23.

Deutsche Bank said on Thursday that it planned to cut as many as 35,000 jobs through internal cuts and the sale of businesses over the next two years as part of an overhaul by John Cryan, the bank’s new co-chief executive, to simplify the lender and improve its returns, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. As part of its revamping, the German bank, which has a big presence on Wall Street, plans to shut its operations in 10 countries, cut the numbers of its investment banking customers in half and modernize its technology.

A remarkable period of growth ended at Volkswagen on Wednesday when the carmaker reported its first quarterly loss in at least 15 years and began the costly process of absorbing the expense of fixing millions of cars designed to cheat on emissions tests, the International New York Times reported. The day also was the end of a defining era of Volkswagen ambition. Matthias Müller, the new chief executive, signaled that the company would no longer be focused on becoming the world’s largest carmaker. He said on Wednesday that sales would not cease to be an overriding measure of success.

German regional lender HSH Nordbank could agree with the European Commission as early as next week to offload billions of euros in troubled assets onto its government owners and avoid the risk of being shut down, sources said. The ship financier, majority owned by the regional states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg, had to seek support from its owners after being hit by the slump in global trade in the wake of the financial crisis. The European Commission requires banks that receive state aid to undergo substantial restructuring and shrink their balance sheets.

Papierfabrik Walsum has postponed the opening of insolvency proceedings again. In reply to an enquiry, the spokesman for the responsible lawyers office, HRM Henneke Röpke Partnerschaft Rechtsanwälte, said that negotiations are still underway with potential investors. It was added that demand for the products of the Norske Skog subsidiary enables the paper machine to continue to run at full capacity, and customers welcome the change in the product mix. Regular insolvency proceedings are now likely to be opened on 1 November.