The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Fair Business Banking in the U.K. has started a six month project, with support from City law firm Humphries Kerstetter, Accountancy Daily reported. Kevin Hollinrake, co-chair of the APPG, said: ‘In recent years there have been a number of high-profile failures in the insolvency industry. The APPG has also received its fair share of complaints about the system.

For a year expected to mark a turning point for pandemic-stricken European airlines, 2021 is off to a rough start, Reuters reported. A resurgence of COVID-19 lockdowns has killed off a fragile bookings upturn, executives and analysts said, as insolvent Norwegian Air finally axed its long-haul operations yesterday. The setbacks deal a blow to airline hopes that the promise of vaccines would put the worst of the crisis behind them, and set the stage for a summer rebound.

Loaded with tons of live crab, lobster and prawns, the trucks headed south from the Scottish town of Oban had to reach their destination in Spain within 72 hours to be sure the cargo would survive the trip. But with Britain operating new post-Brexit trading rules, a journey that used to be routine is now a high-stakes gamble for the exporter Paul Knight, managing director of PDK Shellfish, the New York Times reported. “It is like roulette,” said Mr.

French carmaker Renault in December drew down an extra 1 billion of its 5 billion euro ($6.1 billion) government-guaranteed loan arranged due to the COVID-19 crisis, Deputy Chief Executive Clotilde Delbos told an online presentation on Thursday, Reuters reported. Renault has now tapped 4 billion euros of the loan, Delbos said, adding that the company felt it was wise to use the means at its disposal. Read more.

Estonia’s president on Thursday tasked the leader of the main opposition party to form a new government, a day after Prime Minister Juri Ratas and his Cabinet stepped down in the wake of a corruption scandal in Ratas’ ruling Center Party, the Associated Press reported. Kaja Kallas, chairwoman of the center-right Reform Party that emerged as the winner of the 2019 general election, will have 14 days to put together a new Cabinet, President Kersti Kaljulaid said.

A former leader of Italy yanked his party’s ministers on Wednesday from Premier Giuseppe Conte’s government, triggering a political crisis in the middle of a pandemic that could lead to a revamped Cabinet, a different coalition leader or the early election eagerly sought by right-wing opposition parties, the Associated Press reported. Matteo Renzi, who served as premier from Feb. 2014 to Dec.

An investment spree billed as an income generator to protect frontline services in a cash-strapped London borough has provided a cautionary tale about the perils of over-reach as local authorities across Britain face mounting financial and social pressures, the Financial Times reported. Twice in the past two months, the Labour-run council in Croydon, on London’s southern fringes, has issued a Section 114 notice — announcing de facto bankruptcy — after failing to fulfil a legal duty to balance its books.

A report recently by La Vanguardia says that La Liga giants Barcelona are in debt to the tune of €420m (£375), which must be paid by the end of this year or they could face insolvency, with the report describing the club as having let things spiral out of control, according to EuroWeeklyNews.com. Apparently, there is a straight €480m (£428m) long term debt, repayable over one year, and then another debt of €420m (£375m) in the short term, making a total debt of almost €900m (£803m) at the club.