While the last 12 months saw a number of high-profile airline insolvencies and even a few liquidations, several travel companies in different parts of the world have also filed for bankruptcy, The Street reported. In June 2024, German group tour giant FTI Touristik GmbH canceled over 175,000 tours from Germany and nearby countries like Austria and the Netherlands, despite securing €125 million from new investors just a few months earlier.

The Swiss National Bank cut its interest rate to zero on Thursday and did not rule out returning borrowing costs to negative territory in future, although it stressed this was not a step it would take lightly, Reuters reported. The SNB reduced its policy rate by 25 basis points from 0.25%, as expected by markets and a Reuters poll, to stand on the brink of negative rates for the first time since 2022. The central bank now has the lowest borrowing costs among its peers, with markets giving a 53% probability of further cuts in September.

The disgraced bosses of Dundee University were panned in a "devastating" report into the financial issues at the institution that have brought it to the brink of bankruptcy, the Scottish Daily Express reported. They were accused of covering up the perilous financial position and that it was a "self-inflicted" issue.

The bill on bankruptcy of individuals will be considered in the Bulgarian National Assembly, BNT reported. The amendments will be voted on at the 2nd reading, creating a legal framework for personal bankruptcy. Until now, Bulgaria was the only member state of the European Union without a legal framework for bankruptcy of individuals.

Norway's central bank cut its policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% on Thursday and said there were more cuts to come due to a more benign inflation outlook, a decision that took most analysts by surprise and weakened the currency, Reuters reported. "The economic outlook is uncertain, but if the economy evolves broadly as currently projected, the policy rate will be reduced further in the course of 2025," Norges Bank said in a statement.

Blokker will open 40 stores in the Netherlands to rebuild the retail store chain that was declared bankrupt last year, the NL Times reported. The first 12 new stores opened on Wednesday. The rest will open in the coming weeks, the store chain reported. Blokker was declared bankrupt in November of last year. The chain, which was founded in 1896, was dealing with continuous losses and issues regarding the payments of debts before the bankruptcy. Around 45 of the company’s 400 stores remained open during the bankruptcy.

In a dramatic twist emblematic of Europe’s telecom turbulence, Altice France SA, the country’s second-largest telecom provider, has filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York, seeking U.S. court recognition of its French insolvency proceedings as it buckles under €19.2 billion ($22 billion) in debt, USA Herald reported.

Inflation in the U.K. dropped modestly in May as a drop in air fares and transport costs were largely offset by rising food prices, particularly chocolate, official figures showed Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. The Office of National Statistics said consumer prices rose by 3.4% in the year to May, down from 3.5% the previous month. That means inflation remains substantially above the Bank of England's target rate of 2%. The bank's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee is due to announce its latest interest rate decision today.