British banks are finalizing plans for outsourcing the recovery of billions of pounds in taxpayer-backed business loans issued during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. A consortium of lenders is expected to set up an entity that will oversee debt collectors tasked with chasing bad loans, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The funeral directors will have to wait for their big get-together. So will the toymakers, the equestrians and the vegans. All those groups and many more had scheduled trade fairs to take place in Germany in recent months. But these rituals of business life, a chance for people to make deals, check out the competition and commune with others in the same walk of life, are in crisis, the International New York Times reported. The mass cancellation of trade fairs has been a disaster for hotels, restaurants and taxi drivers around the world, but especially in Germany.

Philip Green’s Arcadia Group is poised to seek protection from creditors as soon as Monday and become the most notable U.K. retail insolvency since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The owner of brands including Topshop and Topman saw its sales decimated by forced store closures and, over the weekend, stepped up plans to file for administration, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information is private.

Ten years ago today, Ireland went into the arms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Following weeks of speculation, rumours and semi-denial, the government accepted the inevitable. Economic sovereignty was lost, The Irish Times reported. It was the most extraordinary and the most depressing moment in Irish economic history.

Germany’s audit watchdog is investigating Deutsche Bank’s head of accounting Andreas Loetscher over potential misconduct in his previous role at EY, where he was one of the partners responsible for the audits of Wirecard, the Financial Times reported. Wirecard, a once high-flying payments company, received unqualified audits from EY for more than a decade before it collapsed into insolvency this summer. Mr Loetscher, who joined Germany’s largest lender in May 2018 after a two-decade long career at the Big Four firm, is one of at least two Wirecard auditors who are personally being

A petition to secure High Court protection for a chocolate food products company was prepared in secret from its board, the High Court was told, The Irish Times reported. Ina’s Kitchen Desserts is trading, no one is refusing to trade with it, and it also has a plentiful supply of finance to meet its requirements, said Bernard Dunleavy SC for the majority shareholder Starkane. Counsel said Starkane knew nothing of the petition for examinership brought by a director and 10 per cent shareholder Barry Broderick until it was moved.

Airlines are on course to lose a total $157 billion this year and next, their main global body warned on Tuesday, further downgrading its industry outlook in response to a second wave of coronavirus infections and shutdowns afflicting major markets, Reuters reported. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which in June had forecast $100 billion in losses for the two-year period, said it now projects a $118.5 billion deficit this year alone, and a further $38.7 billion for 2021.

German insurers are in the final stages of negotiating a six-month extension to a COVID-19 credit insurance backstop with the German government, Reuters reported. Insurers and the government struck a deal earlier this year for up to 30 billion euros ($35.64 billion) in guarantees for the commercial credit insurance industry for 2020, a move important for fostering the smooth flow of trade during the pandemic. With 2020 winding down, Joerg Asmussen, head of the GDV German insurance association, said an agreement for the extension could be reached “within days”.

British real estate agent Countrywide has appointed former William Hill chief Philip Bowcock as its CEO to lead talks on a new rescue deal, as shareholders rejected an offer from private equity firm Alchemy Partners, Reuters reported. The London-based company, one of several agents hurt by a coronavirus-driven drop in property sales this year, also said on Tuesday that executive chairman Peter Long had stepped down from his role and retired as a director with immediate effect.

France’s Credit Agricole offered to buy third-tier Italian lender Creval for 737 million euros ($875 million) on Monday, as a wave of consolidation sweeps Italy’s banking sector, Reuters reported. France’s No.2 bank had been considering expanding in Italy, its second biggest market, and both Creval and larger rival Banco BPM had been tipped as possible targets. Credit Agricole Italia will pay 10.5 euros per Creval share, a 21.4% premium on Friday’s closing price. Shares in Creval jumped 23.7% slightly surpassing the offer’s price. Credit Agricole closed up 3.9%. Banco BPM declined 3.7%.