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Car seat manufacturer Recaro Automotive has filed for bankruptcy, Autocar reported. The German firm, which supplies major brands including BMW, Ford and Volkswagen, was yesterday approved for self-administration by the Esslingen District Court. Local reports suggest that employees hadn't been informed that it would be filing for bankruptcy.

Thames Water may be put into a special turnaround regime within months, a process that could lead to the break up of Britain’s largest water company, Bloomberg News reported. The industry’s chief regulator is considering accelerating its so-called Turnaround Oversight Regime, to try to prevent the collapse of the debt-laden utility. The regulator will closely monitor Thames, which is in crisis after shareholders halted new equity injections in March and its parent company defaulted on its debts.

China’s central bank is planning to move the date on which it injects one-year liquidity to domestic lenders to the 25th of each month, as part of a shift to relying primarily on a short-term interest rate to steer markets, Bloomberg News reported. The change will take effect as early as in August, the people said, asking not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly. The People’s Bank of China now conducts its medium-term lending facility operation on the 15th of every month.

China’s manufacturing activity extended its run of declines to a third straight month in July, signaling continued weakness in the economy a day after the country’s communist leaders pledged to introduce more pro-growth measures, the Wall Street Journal reported. The manufacturing purchasing managers index dropped slightly to 49.4 in July from 49.5 in June, according to data released Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics. A reading below 50 suggests contraction, while one above indicates expansion. The result was mostly in line with expectations.

The Bank of Japan on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate and cited concerns about the historically weak yen, leading to a jump in the Japanese currency, Bloomberg News reported. The decision was the latest sign of a rethink among central banks about the effects of higher interest rates on economic growth. Gov. Kazuo Ueda embraced a view spreading among Japanese officials that a rate increase, normally seen as constricting the economy, could instead help growth by pushing up the yen and reassuring consumers who have had to pay more for imported goods.

Banca Generali SpA won a U.K. court ruling in a dispute arising out of €344 million ($373 million) worth of securitizations it bought from a trade finance firm, Bloomberg News reported. The Italian wealth manager has the power to remove and replace CFE Advisory Services as the agent in charge of dealings with the noteholders, the UK’s Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday. The wealth manager, representing the senior noteholders, was in a dispute with issuer Sovereign Credit Opportunities SA and CFE over attempts to appoint its own agent.

Inflation unexpectedly heated up in the eurozone this month, presenting a fresh challenge to policymakers looking for signs that eurozone price rises are easing sustainably, the Wall Street Journal reported. Consumer prices were 2.6% higher on year in July, picking up pace from in June, according to EU figures released Wednesday. That defied economists’ expectations for a slight decrease in inflation over the month, and leaves the rate further from the European Central Bank’s elusive 2% target.

Ethiopia needs about $3.5 billion in relief from debt restructuring through 2027-28, according to the International Monetary Fund, setting the key parameters for creditors to negotiate deals with the government, Bloomberg News reported. Overall, Africa’s second-most populous nation faces a financing gap of more than $20 billion over the period, the Washington-based lender said this week in a report outlining its $3.4 billion economic program. That reduces to $10.7 billion after actions including proceeds from privatization processes and an existing debt suspension with creditors, it said.

A measure of inflation closely watched by Australian policymakers was lower than expected in the second quarter, taking pressure off the central bank to raise interest rates further at its policy meeting next week, the Wall Street Journal reported. Trimmed mean inflation, which is a key focus for the Reserve Bank of Australia, rose 3.9% from a year earlier in the second quarter, beating the central bank’s forecast of 3.8%. Economists had expected trimmed mean inflation would rise by 4.0%.

The European Union has kicked off a consultation on rules that will apply to providers of general-purpose AI models (GPAIs) — such as Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI — under the bloc's AI Act, its risk-based framework for regulating applications of artificial intelligence. Lawmakers want the Code of Practice to help ensure "trustworthy" GPAIs by providing developers with guidance on how to comply with their legal obligations, TechCrunch reported. The EU AI Act was adopted earlier this year and will come into force imminently, on August 1.