The European Commission has rejected Italy’s budget for flouting Europe’s fiscal rules, and has given Rome three weeks to try again. It’s the first time this has been done, and the move is risky because it sets up a political confrontation that could end badly. But the rules are there for a reason, and if the system is to work, ...

A few years ago, with funding for startups surging, some people worried that the US was in the midst of a new technology bubble. Calmer heads realised that even if venture capitalists were being a little too carefree with their cash, the result probably wouldn’t look anything like the dot-com bubble and crash of 2000. Price-to-earnings multiples for public tech ...

France’s Ingenico Group SA straddles two fintech worlds: An old-school one of credit card payment terminals, and a shiny new one of all-digital financial transactions. The company’s expensive attempts to focus on the latter have helped knock about a quarter off its share price this year, while upstarts like Adyen NV have soared. The decline in Ingenico’s value has opened ...