The number of bankruptcies in the Netherlands dropped significantly in July. According to Statistics Netherlands, a total of 299 companies were declared bankrupt in July, which is 109 fewer than during the same period last year, a drop of 27 percent. It was also 4 percent fewer than in June, NLTimes.nl reported. The bankruptcy rate, the number of bankruptcies per 100,000 companies, was 8.1 in July. A year earlier, 11.3 out of every 100,000 companies were declared bankrupt.

Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG is working on a debut significant risk transfer tied to billions of dollars of U.S. commercial real estate loans, Bloomberg News reported. The Garching-based bank is sounding out investors about the potential transaction. In June, PBB said it would discontinue its US business completely and planned to wind down, securitize or sell a portfolio of about €4.1 billion of US commercial real estate loans. Earlier this month it booked €314 million in charges linked to its decision to exit the U.S.

Russia has quietly developed a crypto-fueled network of payments systems that's helped it evade Western sanctions over its war in Ukraine, BusinessInsider.com reported. That assessment comes from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, which said that it believes Russia had created a "shadow crypto economy" in the years following its invasion of Ukraine in order to sidestep financial punishment by the US and its allies. The report highlighted one crypto token in particular tied to Russian businesses trying to trade under the radar.

Switzerland’s economic growth slowed sharply in the second quarter, as strong frontrunning of U.S. tariffs in the early part of the year unwound, raising the chance that the Swiss central bank will cut interest rates to below zero later this year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Gross domestic product rose 0.1% in the three months to the end of June, down from the 0.8% growth of the first quarter, statistical agency SECO said in a flash estimate on Friday. Growth in the first three months of 2025 was led by U.S.

President Trump’s planned 15 percent tariff on medicines from Europe has shined a spotlight on Ireland, which sends the United States tens of billions of dollars’ worth of cancer medications, weight-loss drug ingredients and other pharmaceutical products each year. No other country sends more, the New York Times reported. Manufacturing blockbuster medications there offers tax benefits for American drug companies. But the appeal of Ireland for the industry goes deeper: Drugmakers have long shifted their patents and profits there, as well, to avoid billions of dollars in taxes.

Already struggling with “astronomical” input cost increases, independent brewers are set to face a further hike in their commercial water charges, the Irish Times reported. Despite the dramatic increases to their costs, independent brewers across Ireland are limited in their ability to pass them on to consumers, as they compete with far larger, commercial breweries. The confirmation of a 9.8 per cent hike in water charges has brewers concerned amid the closures of several well-known, award-winning breweries across the country.

Potato producer CêlaVita is expected to file for bankruptcy later this week with the potential loss of 215 jobs, DutchNews.nl reported. The company, based in Wezep, Gelderland, supplied supermarkets, hotels, restaurants and institutions across Europe, but had been struggling financially for some time. A month ago unions rejected a final offer from the company in negotiations for a new pay deal and said a majority of workers were prepared to take industrial action.

Many subsidiaries of the shoe brand Van Lier have been declared bankrupt, according to the Zeeland-West-Brabant court, the NL Times reported. It had previously been reported that the company was facing financial difficulties. It is not immediately clear how extensive the bankruptcy is. On the website of the alternative exchange Bondex, the company states that the parent company VANLIER b.v. is not bankrupt, but bankruptcy has been declared for subsidiaries Van Lier b.v., Van Lier Amsterdam, and Van Lier Shoes b.v.

An esports company backed by David Beckham has been put up for sale on an insolvency marketplace, City AM reported. Guild Esports, which owns a multi-story gaming venue in Shoreditch, is seeking offers from prospective buyers with a bid deadline of Friday. Founded in 2018, the company employed esports teams which competed in popular gaming tournaments such as Fortnite and FC25. It also had partnerships with Sky Broadband and Subway.

Norway’s central bank kept its key policy rate unchanged Thursday as inflation remains above target, but it continued to hint at further easing later this year to avoid constraining the economy more than necessary, the Wall Street Journal reported. After surprising with a quarter-point cut at its last meeting, policymakers said in a statement that inflation is still too high and a restrictive monetary policy is still needed for now. “The job of tackling inflation has not been fully completed,” Gov. Ida Wolden Bache said.