A Swiss court is weighing whether to grant Credit Suisse investors access to more documents on a CHF16 billion ($17.6 billion) writedown of the bank’s bonds, a move the lender has opposed, filings seen by Reuters show. Hundreds of bondholders have sued Swiss regulator FINMA in an effort to recoup their losses from the writedown that helped pave the way for Credit Suisse’s government-orchestrated takeover by UBS in March. In the battle for disclosure, investors scored an early win in May when the St.

Demire Deutsche Mittelstand Real Estate AG and its creditors are gearing up for debt refinancing talks as the Apollo-backed landlord faces a looming bond maturity amid an industry downturn, Bloomberg News. Demire has hired Rothschild & Co. to advise on its refinancing, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the information is private. Bondholders have also been hearing pitches from potential advisors.

Finnish e-bike drive system Revonte has filed for bankruptcy and is selling its IP, Tech.EU reported. The startup successfully raised a €2 million Seed round in 2019 but has struggled to secure further funding forcing the decision. The unease in the e-bike market could be a result of the slowdown of sales post-Covid boom but it might also be about time there is some consolidation in the market — for companies like Revonte their hand has been forced in these trickier fundraising times.

Poland’s central bank lowered its key interest rate Wednesday, pointing to a drop in inflation despite a still-high rate of 8.2% last month, raising concerns about the cut being a political move, the Associated Press reported. The National Bank of Poland cut its benchmark rate a quarter of a percentage point to 5.75%. Analysts were expecting it after annual inflation dropped last month from 10.1% in August. Inflation was over 18% earlier this year. It was the second rate cut since Sept. 9, when the central bank surprisingly slashed rates by three-quarters of a point.

Quantitative easing, the policy tool deployed across the Group of Seven to stimulate economies through the financial crisis and pandemic, is rapidly falling out of favor in Britain, Bloomberg News reported. From politicians and the finance minister to economists and a former Bank of England governor, many are cooling rapidly on the merits of the tool as its cost to taxpayers and side effects become apparent. The result is likely to make it more difficult for the UK central bank to pull the QE lever in the same way again if the economy sours.

The number of instances of greenwashing by banks and financial services companies around the world rose 70% in the past 12 months from the previous 12 months, a report on Tuesday showed, Reuters reported. European financial institutions accounted for most instances and much of the greenwashing involved claims about fossil fuels.

The European Union is considering unlocking billions of euros for Hungary that were frozen over rule-of-law concerns as it seeks to win Budapest's approval for aid to Ukraine including a start to membership talks for Kyiv, senior officials said, Reuters reported. Hungary cultivates closer ties with Russia than other EU states, and is seen as the key potential opponent to a decision due in December on whether to open accession talks with Kyiv, which would require unanimous backing of the union's 27 members.

Italy intends to scale back its current set of state guarantees and create a new scheme to boost private investment in strategic infrastructure, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The move is part of Rome's efforts to phase out the expansionary policies adopted since 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis exacerbated by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. As of Dec. 31, 2022, state guarantees amounted to 15.8% of Italy's gross domestic product (GDP), Treasury data showed in April, marginally below the 16.1% of 2021.

Traders of bank bonds are no longer penalizing UBS Group AG for Swiss risk. That’s opportune as the country’s largest lender considers a new issue of additional tier 1 notes, Bloomberg News reported. UBS, which acquired Credit Suisse in a government-brokered rescue that left investors in Credit Suisse’s AT1s with $17 billion of worthless notes, saw its risk premium soar to 450 basis points relative to non-Swiss issuers. Six months later that penalty has nearly vanished as confidence returns for AT1 notes in general, and UBS in particular.

The number of businesses becoming insolvent has surged by a third in the first nine months of the year but remains below pre-Covid levels, the Irish Independent reported. Insolvency levels rose by 33pc in the first three quarters of 2023 compared to the same period last year, according to PwC’s latest Insolvency Barometer. The retail and construction sectors account for the highest number of business failures, but the failure rate is highest in the arts, entertainment and hospitality sector, according to Ken Tyrrell, business recovery partner, PwC Ireland.