Company insolvencies in England and Wales last month were sharply lower than a year earlier after a big rise in March, although they remained higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Some 1,685 companies were registered insolvent in April, down 15% from the same month a year earlier and almost a third lower than in March, according to non-seasonally adjusted figures from the British government's Insolvency Service.

The European Banking Authority has been holding talks on ways to boost investor interest in the AT1 market after Switzerland’s shock decision to wipe out about $17 billion of Credit Suisse Group AG notes, Bloomberg News reported. The EBA earlier this month addressed ideas such as a ban on banks paying dividends before they consider skipping an AT1 coupon to preserve capital during times of stress, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing the private information.

UBS Group AG was rushed into buying cross-town rival Credit Suisse Group AG in a deal it did not want, as a global bank crisis worsened the latter's finances and prompted authorities to take swift action, a regulatory filing showed, Reuters reported. UBS, in a Tuesday filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, told investors it had less than four days to conduct due diligence given the "emergency circumstances". It estimated a hit of about $17 billion from the takeover. Switzerland's biggest bank agreed to buy its smaller rival after the latter had endured a difficult year.

The United Arab Emirates' highest court Tuesday ordered a British hedge fund trader convicted of orchestrating a $1.7 billion tax fraud to pay that amount to Denmark's tax authority, the Associated Press reported. Financier Sanjay Shah was convicted in a lower court of masterminding a scheme that ran from 2012 to 2015. Under it, foreign businesses pretended to own shares in Danish companies and claimed tax refunds for which they were not eligible. He was arrested in Dubai last year.

The European Union's executive body said on Wednesday it has formally adopted a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) to allow financial regulators from Britain and the bloc to cooperate more closely, though stopping short of market access, Reuters reported. Britain has left the EU, largely severing its financial sector's previously unfettered access to the bloc. As part of Britain's Brexit terms with the bloc, the EU agreed to formalise cooperation between financial watchdogs, but it was put on hold by Brussels following disagreements between the bloc and Britain over Northern Ireland.

The UK government laid out a series of extra protections for tenants in the biggest shake-up of the private rental market for a generation, Bloomberg News reported. Under the Renters’ Reform Bill introduced to Parliament on Wednesday, the government will abolish the existing “section 21” provision allowing landlords to remove tenants via so-called no-fault evictions, according to a statement from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It will also give renters more power to challenge poor living standards without fear of losing their homes.

SAS's rescue has moved a step closer after a U.S. court approved a revised plan from the Scandinavian airline to raise equity, Reuters reported. The long-suffering airline filed for chapter 11 protection last year. The court approval of the fundraising proposal - a key element of the "SAS Forward" rescue plan - means investors may start placing bids for a stake in the airline.

The European Central Bank said on Monday it had fined Goldman Sachs' European unit 6.63 million euros ($7.3 million) for underreporting the risk associated with some corporate credit, thereby flattering its balance sheet, Reuters reported. Goldman Sachs said in a statement it had "closely cooperated with the ECB" and "taken all necessary steps" to resolve the issue. The ECB, the euro zone's top banking supervisor, said Goldman Sachs Bank Europe misclassified some corporate exposures for eight straight quarters in 2019-21, assigning a lower risk to them than the rules prescribe.

British chemicals producer Venator Materials Plc filed for chapter 11 protection in the U.S., the company said in a court filing late on Sunday, Reuters reported. Venator has estimated both assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion, according to a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Satellite launch company Virgin Orbit is planning to move back the deadline for prospective bidders to buy its assets by a handful of days, Reuters reported. Virgin Orbit, founded by billionaire Richard Branson, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April after the company struggled to secure long-term funding following a failed satellite launch in January. Virgin Orbit went public two years ago at a valuation of roughly $3 billion, but the January mishap left the company scrambling for new funding and forced it to halt operations. U.S.