Art dealer to the stars, Andrew Valmorbida is locked in a court battle involving a string of prototype Ferraris, artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, and a £17 million ($21.5 million) west London townhouse, Bloomberg News reported. Luxembourg-based lender Regera Sarl is chasing Valmorbida for $42.9 million, claiming he defaulted on a loan and attempted to sell artwork over which it had security, without permission, according to court documents.

Inverness, Scottland-based Highland Timber Construction has entered liquidation after failing to recover from the financial strain caused by the covid pandemic and a subsequent inability to secure new contracts, Scottish Financial News reported. The company, which was established in 2016 and known for building construction, extensions, renovations, and kitchen remodelling, ceased operations on 27 November 2023, resulting in redundancy for its 11 employees. The decision for liquidation was made after the company petitioned Inverness Sheriff Court on 6 December.

Credit Suisse came close to imploding months before its eventual rescue, the Swiss financial regulator said on Tuesday in its first detailed account of the crisis, as it argued for stronger powers to oversee lenders in future, Reuters reported. The regulator, FINMA, which has come under fire for its supervision of the bank, defended its role in the meltdown which eventually triggered the biggest rescue of a bank since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.

London's marine insurance market has widened the area in the Red Sea it deems as high risk after a surge in attacks on commercial ships, according to a statement issued on Monday, Reuters reported. Guidance from the Joint War Committee (JWC), which comprises syndicate members from the Lloyd's Market Association (LMA) and representatives from the London insurance company market, is watched closely and influences underwriters' considerations over insurance premiums. The JWC widened the high risk zone in the Red Sea to 18 degrees north from 15 degrees north previously, the statement said.

Germany's economy is likely to shrink again slightly in the current fourth quarter, the country's central bank said Monday, while a survey showed business confidence retreating unexpectedly, the Associated Press reported. Europe’s biggest economy contracted by 0.1% in the third quarter after growing by the same amount in the previous three-month period, according to official figures.

Russia’s central bank on Friday increased its key interest rate by 1 percentage point, to 16 percent, as it continued to battle what it called “high inflationary pressures,” the New York Times reported. The rate increase was the fifth in a row since the central bank began its current cycle of monetary tightening in July, when the rate was 7.5.

The number of companies in England and Wales declared insolvent in November was 21% higher than a year earlier, government figures showed on Friday, adding to the pattern of higher corporate failures as the Bank of England raises interest rates, Reuters reported. The Insolvency Service, a public body, said there were 2,466 registered company insolvencies during the month. The BoE raised rates 14 times between December 2021 and August this year, taking Bank Rate from 0.1% to 5.25%.

Ministers will announce a 6.5% increase in the funding for local councils in England in a desperate attempt to stop them going bankrupt, the Guardian reported. Michael Gove, the communities secretary, will announce the £64bn support package on Monday, less than a fortnight after he was warned that an unprecedented number of councils are likely to declare themselves bankrupt.

Sweden’s core inflation hit the lowest level since May last year, reinforcing a brighter view on price increases after the country’s central bank halted an 18-month campaign of interest-rate hikes last month, Bloomberg News reported. Prices excluding energy and interest-rate changes rose by 5.4% from a year earlier, a release from Statistics Sweden showed Thursday. That was clearly lower than the 5.9% expected by both the Riksbank and economists in a Bloomberg survey.

A council in one of the wealthiest parts of the UK has warned it faces potential bankruptcy due to the “devastating” impact of cancelling the northern leg of HS2, the Guardian reported. Leaders of Cheshire East council in north-west England said the authority had spent £11m preparing for the high-speed rail link, and this would now have to be written off. Most of this money – £8.6m – had been funded by borrowing and would now have to be funded from the council’s already stretched revenue budget.