France finally unveiled its long-awaited plan for using state aid to prevent a wave of bankruptcies in the nation after the pandemic, hailing it as a model for the rest of Europe, Bloomberg News reported. The innovative program, which has now been approved by the European Union, will combine private and public money to provide as much as 20 billion euros ($24 billion) to strengthen the finances of small and medium-sized companies. The so-called participative loans adopt some of the advantages of equity and debt and are a central plank of President Emmanuel Macron’s stimulus.
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Resources Per Country
- Albania
- Austria
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Guernsey
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Isle of Man
- Italy
- Jersey
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- Vatican City
Offshore drilling rig contractor Seadrill said on Thursday it had taken an additional $2.9 billion non-cash impairment on its assets due to a bleak outlook for the sector, which has reduced demand for its drilling rigs, Reuters reported. Seadrill, which in February filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States for the second time in four years, said it expected offshore drilling demand to remain depressed well into 2021, with some degree of market recovery seen by mid-2022.
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A funding crisis at Greensill Capital could spill over to some of its high-risk borrowers and lead to losses for insurers and banks that have done business with the UK-based supply chain finance firm if its clients default, according to several industry experts and a review of public filings, Reuters reported. Greensill, backed by Softbank Group Corp’s Vision Fund, helps companies spread out the time they have to pay their bills. The loans, which typically have maturities of up to 90 days, are securitized and sold to investors, allowing Greensill to make new loans.
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German business groups expressed dismay on Thursday after Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders agreed a gradual easing of coronavirus curbs but added an “emergency brake” to reimpose restrictions if case numbers get out of control, Reuters reported. The tentative reopening plan dashed any hopes of a swift rebound in consumer spending this month to end a weak first quarter on a stronger note. Some economists also worried about long-term damage to the economy and people’s opportunities in life.
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Boris Johnson's combative new Brexit minister is already ruffling feathers in Brussels, Politico reported. David Frost managed to irk both the Irish and the European Commission’s top brass with a unilateral U.K. decision to exempt British firms from some bureaucracy when shipping food to Northern Ireland, a move the EU says breaches the Brexit divorce deal. The policy, announced by the U.K. in a written statement, marks Frost’s opening gambit as Johnson’s new Brexit “super minister,” a role he only just inherited from Michael Gove.
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The United States on Thursday agreed to a four-month suspension of retaliatory tariffs imposed on British goods such as Scotch whisky over a long-running aircraft subsidy row, with both sides pledging to use the time to resolve the dispute, Reuters reported. The U.S. administration under former President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Scotch whisky and other European Union food, wine and spirits, which the industry says have put its future at risk.
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Pushing member states to address salary disparities between men and women, the European Union revealed details on Thursday of a proposed law that would require companies to divulge gender pay gaps and give job candidates access to salary information in employment interviews, the New York Times reported. It also would provide women with better tools to fight for equal pay. The move comes as female workers across the world have been disproportionately affected by the economic repercussions of the coronavirus crisis, and it could lead to sanctions on companies that do not comply.
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European governments must help businesses boost their equity or face a wave of bankruptcies and unemployment that could cost 15 million jobs, according to analysis by the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The Fund estimates massive public cash handouts during the pandemic helped save 30 million jobs, but the share of insolvent companies still increased, with small firms particularly affected. To lift European business out of danger, it said a combination of public and private support totaling 2% to 3% of economic output is needed.
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Embattled financial startup Greensill Capital plans to file for insolvency in the U.K. this week, as it simultaneously moves toward a deal to sell its operating business to Apollo Global Management, the Wall Street Journal reported. Also Wednesday, in a dramatic ratcheting up of Greensill’s problems, Germany’s top financial regulator BaFin referred matters related to the firm’s banking unit, Greensill Bank AG, to criminal prosecutors, according to a spokesman for the Bremen prosecutors office.
Czech Airlines’ insolvency petition sets out the scale of the company’s financial problems, which it partly attributes to the inability to source rescue funding from the Czech government, FlightGlobal reported. The company has 266 creditors, with the total liability to suppliers amounting to Kc809 million ($37.1 million) as of 25 February, its petition to a Prague municipal court states. But the petition, seen by FlightGlobal, adds that there is a debt of nearly Kc1 billion to “hundreds of thousands” of passengers who are owed for the cancellation of flights.