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Three directors have been banned following investigations which found that nearly £100,000 worth of Bounce Back loans had been inappropriately applied for, or misused., according to a press release from the U.K. Insolvency Service. The Bounce Back Loan (BBL) scheme ran to March 2021 and provided loans of up £50,000 to help businesses survive the impact of COVID-19. N&S Solutions Ltd was a cleaning services company incorporated in June 2018. Since October 2018 Rafael Henrique Scher, 38, had been the only director.

The top 10 arrangers for European corporate debt deals typically account for at least 50% of the market. This year is different, Bloomberg News reported. Their share of sales has fallen to 45% so far in 2021, the lowest ever on an annual basis, and about 10 percentage points below the previous decade’s average, according to Bloomberg league table data. It’s because there are more banks fighting for fewer deals, according to Tim Skeet, U.K. regional chair for International Capital Market Association. “The dynamics of the market have changed,” Skeet said.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro reiterated on Monday that he is considering the privatization of state-run oil company Petrobras , boosting its shares along with news of a fresh price hike in the domestic gasoline and diesel market, Reuters reported. "This is on our radar," the far-right president said during a radio interview.

A financial industry group warned on Monday that Hong Kong's zero-COVID policy and strict quarantine requirements for international travellers threatens to undermine the city's status as a financial hub, Reuters reported. The Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) said a survey of members, including some of the world's largest banks and asset managers, showed 48% were contemplating moving staff or functions away from Hong Kong due to operational challenges, which included uncertainty regarding when and how travel and quarantine restrictions will be lifted.

Nigeria has launched a digital currency which the Central Bank of Nigeria says is a “major step forward in the evolution of money” in Africa’s most populous country, the Associated Press reported. President Muhammadu Buhari said at the launch Monday that the digital currency and the blockchain technology it uses can foster economic growth and increase the GDP of Nigeria’s economy, one of Africa’s biggest, by $29 billion over the next 10 years.

South Africa’s Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. resumed cutting power to customers due to breakdowns at some of its electricity-generating plans, Bloomberg News reported. The state-owned company, which is struggling to reduce its debt burden, has been cutting 2,000 megawatts from the grid since Saturday evening after breakdowns and malfunctions at six of its plants. The rolling power cuts, known locally as load-shedding, will be suspended on Monday morning and re-introduced during evenings until Tuesday night after a unit at its Koeberg plant tripped on Sunday, Eskom said in a statement.

Italy on Sunday ended talks with UniCredit over the sale of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) in a major setback to years-long efforts by the Rome government to return the ailing Tuscan bank to private hands, Reuters reported. Failure to bridge a multi-billion euro valuation gap between the parties leaves Italy unable to complete the restructuring of its banking system which it started six years ago. Rome will now seek an extension of deadlines agreed with European Union authorities to re-privatise MPS and a Treasury official said it did not expect discussions to be difficult.

Two key groups of Latam Airlines Group SA creditors, frustrated by a bankruptcy process that has dragged on for almost 18 months, are asking for a mediator to help devise an exit plan for the Chilean carrier, Bloomberg News reported. The airline’s unsecured creditors and a consortium holding billions of dollars in claims complained on Thursday about the lack of progress and asked the court to order mediation. A mediator would facilitate talks about how creditors will be repaid and where existing shareholders fit into that plan.

China Evergrande, the troubled property giant that is teetering on the edge of collapse, appears to have bought itself a little more time, the New York Times reported. On Friday, the world’s most indebted property developer made an $83.5 million interest payment to bondholders, according to Securities Times, an official newspaper. The outlet, which is backed by People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, didn’t offer further details. The payment came with just one day left on a 30-day grace period to avoid a default.

Japan finally has an inflation pulse and the gains are much stronger than they first appear, a factor that could start to influence speculation over the Bank of Japan’s policy path, Bloomberg News reported. While the first rise in key consumer prices in 18 months was just 0.1% in September, once the impact of slashed mobile phone fees is removed, core inflation is closer to 1.4%, according to a Bloomberg calculation. The sharp reductions in cellphone charges stem from a campaign of public pressure on mobile carriers to reduce fees by former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.