Board chairman of New Stream oil and gas company and former co-owner of troubled Antipinsky refinery Dmitry Mazurov charged with a 4 billion-ruble embezzlement (about $60 million) has filed a cassation appeal against a ruling declaring him bankrupt, according to the Moscow Commercial Court’s records, RAPSI reported. In mid-June, the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals declared Mazurov. The ruling was delivered upon an application filed by Persit Services Inc.  Its 2.08-billion-ruble claim was included in Mazurov’s creditor demands list.

The extent of the coronavirus toll on the UK public finances was exposed on Tuesday with official figures showing a record government cash deficit in the first quarter of the financial year, more than twice the previous highest level of borrowing, the Financial Times reported. Between April and June, the government’s net cash requirement — the deficit of tax receipts over public spending — was £174bn, far higher than both the £20.3bn in the same period of 2019-20 and the previous quarterly record of £76.8bn at the height of the global financial crisis in the fourth quarter of 2009.

London-based Nithia Capital Resources Advisors LLP is seeking to acquire troubled Singapore commodity trader Agritrade International Pte Ltd (AIPL) and its shares in its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary, according to a source familiar with the matter, Reuters reported. AIPL, whose businesses span palm oil and coal, is undergoing a court-appointed restructuring after it collapsed earlier this year amid fraud allegations. It owes $1.55 billion, including $983 billion to at least 20 banks.

European banks are facing as much as €800bn in loan losses and a €30bn hit to their revenue over the next three years as a result of the coronavirus crisis, according to a report from Oliver Wyman, the Financial Times reported. In the consultancy’s base or expected scenario — a slow economic recovery with most countries avoiding a second lockdown — it estimates bad debts would surge to €400bn, about 2.5 times the level in the prior three years.

Creditors of insolvent German lead producer Weser-Metall have decided to start exclusive talks about selling the plant to commodity group Glencore, the creditors said on Tuesday. Glencore said it had no comment, Reuters reported. Weser-Metall GmbH in Nordenham produces about 105,000 tonnes of lead annually and is one of Europe’s main lead producers. It filed for insolvency in May after the coronavirus crisis cut metal demand. Weser-Metall, previously part of French metals producer Recylex, stopped production over the weekend.

German payments company Wirecard has hired Alix Partners for a forensic investigation of the accounting scandal that led to its collapse, people close to the matter said, Reuters reported. The blue-chip company filed for insolvency last month, owing creditors almost $4 billion after disclosing a 1.9 billion euro ($2.17 billion) hole in its accounts that auditor EY said was the result of a sophisticated global fraud.

Company insolvencies are forecast to rise sharply in the UK over the coming months as government support measures are unravelled, the Financial Times reported. Begbies Traynor, the insolvency specialist, warned businesses were facing the “double whammy” of accruing liabilities and the withdrawal of state support schemes. “I expect we’ll see numbers of insolvencies in excess of what we saw in 2008,” said group executive chairman Ric Traynor, comparing the recession caused by the pandemic with the financial crash.

Some of the world’s largest developing economies are set to face a fiscal crisis in the coming years unless they can roll back huge increases in public spending enacted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, analysts have warned, the Financial Times reported. The economic downturn caused by the pandemic, combined with rising healthcare spending to tackle the spread of the virus, have caused budget deficits to soar in many countries. They will have to face the choice of risking public unrest by cutting back on spending, or negotiating with investors to restructure their debts.

Amigo Loans warned on Monday that there was “material uncertainty” over its ability to continue operating, as the UK subprime lender grapples with rising customer complaints, a regulatory investigation and the coronavirus crisis, the Financial Times reported. The company said it was confident it had “adequate liquidity” but cautioned that additional financing would be needed if customer complaints were higher than expected for a prolonged period, or if the Financial Conduct Authority forced the group to carry out a major remediation exercise.

The Group of 20 leading economies this weekend may have to consider expanding help for the world’s poorest countries, three months after agreeing to provide temporary debt relief, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage nations, Bloomberg News reported. Central bankers and finance ministers from the G-20 will hold a virtual meeting on Saturday to discuss and coordinate phased efforts to spur a global economic recovery. Looking beyond just debt relief efforts would be part of that.