A former millionaire property developer facing fraud charges in Ireland is seeking to challenge the appointment of a forensic accountant as his bankruptcy trustee, the Independent reported. Philip Marley alleges that the appointment, made at the behest of a creditor, was “rogue” and “invalid”. He made the claims in the High Court before Mr Justice Richard Humphreys, the judge who approved the appointment of accountant Mícheál Leydon last March.
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As payback time approaches for more than 75 billion pounds ($104 billion) of emergency state-backed loans, Britain's banks must tread a delicate path with businesses propped up during the pandemic, Reuters reported. Faced with trying to limit losses for themselves and taxpayers but also avoid a repeat of the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, when banks were vilified and forced to pay millions of pounds in redress for heavy handed debt repayment tactics, lenders are pledging that this time will be different.
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The U.K. faces three potentially catastrophic risks to its public finances, the government’s budget watchdog said, underlining the challenge confronting Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to restore fiscal restraint, Bloomberg News reported. Unfunded pressures on government departments total some 30 billion pounds ($42 billion) over the next three years as a result of the pandemic, the Office for Budget Responsibility said on Tuesday in its biennial Fiscal Risks Report. The OBR also flagged U.K.

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The court in Buzău admitted at the beginning of this month the request for insolvency filed for Getica 95, the biggest independent electricity trader, a business of RON 1.5 bln (EUR 300 mln) owned by the businessman Viorel Tudose, Romania-Insider.com reported. The insolvency request was filed by creditors and not the company itself - as Tudose announced in June. Tudose said at that time that the company faces cash flow and not profitability problems and that all contracts with the end-users will be observed.
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Apollo Global Management Inc. said Monday that it is considering making a bid for U.K. grocery chain Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC, setting up a potential three-way bidding war with SoftBank Group Corp.’s Fortress Investment Group LLC and U.S. private-equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, the Wall Street Journal reported. New York-based Apollo said that it hasn’t yet approached the board of the British grocer and there can be no certainty that any offer will be made.
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The European Union proposed a swathe of new rules to bring the world of finance in line with its ambitious goal to make the region carbon neutral by the middle of the century, Bloomberg News reported. The European Commission wants tighter measures on banks and credit rating agencies to better reflect the risks climate change poses to the financial system. The bloc also set out its green bond standard, a voluntary rulebook that issuers of sustainable debt will have to abide by should they want the EU stamp of approval.
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After more than a year of home working, property investors are betting that demand for office space in Europe will rise as COVID-19 vaccinations are rolled out and people return to work, Reuters reported. Global office real estate leasing volumes dropped 31% in the first quarter compared with a year ago, according to real estate broker JLL, although Europe proved more resilient than the United States. "The perception that the office is over is complete nonsense," said Keith Breslauer, managing partner of European property investor Patron Capital.
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New rules proposed by the European Commission could introduce a cap on interest rates for consumers and restrict the cost of credit charged by moneylenders, the Irish Times reported. The move comes days after Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said the Government was planning to “gradually” lower the current interest rate cap on licensed moneylenders’ loans.

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U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said England was on track to lift almost all Covid-19 restrictions as planned on July 19, even as the highly transmissible Delta variant of coronavirus drives a new surge in infections, the Wall Street Journal reported. The move puts the U.K. in the vanguard of countries betting that vaccines will provide a durable route back to normalcy, despite the circulation of dangerous new variants. Mr.
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A co-founder of the collapsed Bula mine in County Meath has lost a Supreme Court appeal aimed at permitting him to challenge a decision adjudicating him bankrupt over non-payment of a €4.8 million legal costs debt, the Irish Times reported. The High Court granted a petition in March 2018 adjudicating Michael Wymes and another co-founder of Bula, Richard Wood, bankrupt. The two, with Tom Roche senior, established Bula in 1971 to buy a zinc and lead mine near Navan, but it collapsed with substantial debts some years later.

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