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Corporate insolvencies in Scotland rose 19.9% during the second quarter, when compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and rose by 4.8% compared to the same period last year, Business Insider reported. Meanwhile, personal insolvency numbers in Scotland saw no real change, with a decrease of just 0.05% - which equates to a single case - to a total of 2,074. Personal insolvency numbers also fell by 40.2%, when compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Landlords have been warned that the Renters (Reform) Bill could cost them dearly, despite plans to abolish Section 21 evictions being kicked into the long grass, PropertyIndustryEye.com reported. According to Landlord Licensing & Defence, the bill will bring in a raft of new enforcement measures against landlords that could result in massive fines and “even bankruptcy for some”.

Brazilian retailers are struggling to survive long enough to enjoy the benefit of falling interest rates, Bloomberg News reported. The companies have high debt loads, as do their customers. Competition from online retailers like Amazon.com Inc. is heating up. And refinancing debt is more expensive at home and abroad as yields rise and the market digests an accounting scandal at Americanas SA, a nearly century-old company.

The Bank of Canada left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5 per cent on Wednesday amid increasing signs that rate hikes are weighing on the Canadian economy, but it left the door open to further hikes over concerns about stubborn inflation, YahooFinance.com reported. Economists had widely expected the central bank to leave its rate steady as the economy slows and inflation eases.

Zimbabwe gave up its unenviable position of having the world’s highest interest rate to Argentina, after slashing borrowing costs to help boost economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary policy committee cut the benchmark interest rate to 130% from 150%, which lags Argentina’s 133%. The MPC acted because of “emerging global risks and the need to keep exchange rate and inflation expectations anchored to support economic growth,” Governor John Mangudya said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

Germany’s business outlook improved slightly, supporting expectations for Europe’s largest economy to rebound modestly — even as it faces a possible second recession in just over a year, Bloomberg News reported. An expectations index by the Ifo institute rose to 84.7 in October, up from a revised 83.1 the previous month. That beat the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey for an increase to 83.5. A measure of current conditions unexpectedly advanced. “What we see here does suggest that we see a certain stabilization,” Ifo President Clemens Fuest told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday.

European Union lawmakers agreed on a critical part of new rules on artificial intelligence in a meeting late on Tuesday, as they inched closer to a broader agreement on the landmark AI Act, Reuters reported. After two years of negotiations, the bill was approved by the European parliament in May. The draft AI rules now need to be agreed through meetings between the parliament and EU states to thrash out the final versions of laws in a process known as the trilogue.

Vesttoo Ltd. creditors are seeking to take control of the bankrupt Israeli startup’s court proceedings, arguing the company should liquidate following revelations that its former executives helped create fraudulent documents that supported transactions on its platform, Bloomberg News reported. A committee of Vesttoo creditors said that the company is “viewed as the Madoff of insurance” and that its remaining cash should be preserved so it can pursue potential litigation against former corporate insiders and other parties involved in the alleged fraud, according to a court filing on Sunday.

European lawmakers are yet to agree on several issues related to new artificial intelligence rules ahead of a crucial meeting on Tuesday, leaving any deal off the table until December, Reuters reported. The draft AI rules have to be agreed by the European Parliament and European Union member states. They have so far been discussed three times in trilogues, which are meetings between parliament and EU states to thrash out the final versions of laws.

Interest-rate cuts by the European Central Bank could come as soon as March and will be more significant than markets currently price in, strategists at NatWest Markets write in a note. They expect 100 basis points of ECB rate cuts in 2024, more than the close to 60 basis points priced in by the market. “Even if a March cut does not materialise, we do think that we could see more priced in relative to current market pricing and perhaps in quicker succession,” they write.