It may be a further 18 months before long-planned new rules are in place to make it easier for regulators to hold senior managers in banks and other financial firms accountable for failings under their watch, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said, the Irish Times reported. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday after securing Cabinet approval to publish the heads of the Central Bank (Individual Accountability) Bill, Mr Donohoe said that it will take up to six months for the planned laws to go through pre-legislative scrutiny with the Oireachtas Finance Committee.
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British retailers reported only a slight slowdown in July after sales growth hit its highest in almost three years in June, the first full month after non-essential shops reopened from a coronavirus shutdown, industry data showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The Confederation of British Industry's measure of the volume of sales compared with a year earlier dipped to +23 from June's +25, which was the highest since August 2018. The CBI said that the growth in orders was the fastest since December 2010 and the pace of sales was expected to pick up again in August.
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Major airports in Europe are asking investors for a break from debt obligations for the second time since the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. London Heathrow Airport, the U.K.’s busiest hub, said it secured support for a new round of waivers on covenants applying to $1.6 billion of bonds after some of the terms agreed last year expired. Holders of $730 million of bonds issued by Brussels Airport are set to discuss extending similar waivers or risk a default.
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Food delivery and ride-hailing service Bolt's local operators have hit back at a media report that suggested the operation is insolvent, the Times of Malta reported. In a judicial letter filed in court on Monday, BLT Food Malta Ltd, BLT Operations Ltd and BLT Malta Ltd took umbrage with a media report which included claims that the company is legally insolvent. On Sunday, MaltaToday reported how Debono Group, one of the principal investors in the local operations of Bolt, had gone to court to try and recover money it had lent to get the operation started in Malta.
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A British court on Monday granted a bankruptcy order against Vijay Mallya, paving the way for a consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) to pursue a worldwide freezing order to seek repayment of debt owed by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, the Financial Express reported. “As at 15.42 [UK time], I shall adjudicate Dr Mallya bankrupt,” Chief Insolvencies and Companies Court (ICC) Judge Michael Briggs said in his ruling during a virtual hearing of the Chancery Division of the High Court.
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The U.K. government could face “limitless” losses as a result of businesses that accept payments in untaxed and untraceable cryptocurrencies going bust, an insolvency expert has warned, The Guardian reported. A growing number of companies, including the ethical cosmetics firm Lush and office-sharing firm WeWork, have begun taking payments for goods and services in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, alongside debit payments, credit or cash.
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Former millionaire property developer Philip Marley has succeeded in halting the work of a forensic accountant who was appointed as his bankruptcy trustee, the Independent reported. The Irish High Court this week put a stay on a previous order vesting the colourful businessman’s bankruptcy estate in accountant Mícheál Leydon. The move followed claims by Mr. Marley that the appointment was “rogue” and had been “engineered” by an aggrieved creditor, Maven Capital Partners LLP.
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German business morale fell unexpectedly in July on continuing supply chain worries and amid rising coronavirus infections, a survey showed on Monday, Reuters reported. The Ifo institute said its business climate index fell to 100.8 from a revised figure of 101.7 in June. A Reuters poll of analysts had pointed to a July reading of 102.1. "The mood in the German economy has been dampened," Ifo President Clemens Fuest said in a statement.
Ryanair has reported a €273 million loss for its first quarter even as traffic rebounded during the period, the Irish Times reported. The carrier said that it carried 8.1 million passengers in the three-month period, covering April to June. This compares to just 500,000 in the same period a year earlier. Revenues increased 196 per cent from €125 million in the first quarter of 2020 to €371 million for the same quarter this year. Operational costs also rose, however, jumping from €313 million to €675 million.
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Facing unease over the spread of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus, the European Central Bank said it would maintain its stimulus in the form of ultra-low interest rates until inflation “durably” reaches its 2% target, the Associated Press reported. The monetary authority for the 19 countries that use the euro said it would not back off its efforts to support the economy, even if that resulted in a “transitory” period of inflation moderately above target. ECB President Christine Lagarde underlined the bank’s determination to persist with supportive policy.