Finablr Plc, the embattled owner of two foreign-exchange businesses, uncovered about $1 billion of debt hidden from its board that may have been used for purposes outside of the company, compounding a scandal that pushed its sister firm NMC Health Plc into administration, Bloomberg News reported. The London-listed company and its creditors found that Finablr Group’s overall debt was about $1.3 billion, excluding the debt of its Travelex Holdings Ltd. unit and “materially above” its last reported figure, according to a statement.

Before the coronavirus, investors hungry for returns piled into risky corporate loans and bonds with precious little protection for creditors, Reuters reported. Now they’re frantically scouring the terms to see just what firms can get away with to survive the fallout. At the same time, firms starved of cash and funds thinking about lending to them are also poring over the fine print to see what room they have to shift assets away from other creditors, pay dividends or borrow more while staving off default.

Finland’s Stockmann suffered a 49.1% fall in March sales hurt by the impact of the coronavirus, said the department store operator, which has filed for corporate restructuring, Reuters reported. Its adjusted operating loss widened to 30.5 million euros from 21.4 million a year earlier, it said. Shares in the company were down 4.2% by 0900 GMT. Known for its upmarket department stores, Stockmann has struggled for years in the face of a consumer shift to online shopping, prompting cost cuts and divestments. On April 6, Stockmann announced it would file for corporate restructuring.

European business and consumer confidence plummeted at a record rate in April due to the coronavirus crisis, according to the EU’s main economic sentiment indicator which has fallen close to the all-time lows of the financial crash a decade ago, the Financial Times reported.

Deutsche Bank warned that the coronavirus pandemic could threaten its ambition to return to profitability this year, as Germany’s largest lender braced itself for a painful drop in earnings and a jump in loan provisions, the Financial Times reported. Despite a surge in revenue at the investment bank during the first quarter, Deutsche posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of €43m during the period, compared with a profit of €97m last year, the Frankfurt-based lender said on Wednesday.

While business owners around the world are facing crisis, keeping afloat the smaller companies with less than €100m in revenues that are the backbone of the Italian economy is a particularly acute challenge, the Financial Times reported. This is partly because there are so many of them and partly because of the way they traditionally fund themselves: with short-term bank loans. Northern Italy is home to more than 2m businesses, according to Prometeia, a research and consulting firm.

Barclays has announced a sharp increase in provisions for bad loans, becoming the latest bank to prepare for a wave of defaults from retail and corporate customers as the coronavirus crisis upends the global economy, the Financial Times reported. First-quarter credit impairment charges surged almost fivefold to £2.1bn from £448m in the same period last year, more than double the £923m analysts had forecast, the London-based bank said on Wednesday.

Switzerland and Austria pledged to help Lufthansa with state-backed loans as the German airline pursues talks with Berlin over a 9 billion euro ($9.8 billion) rescue package, Reuters reported. The Swiss government said on Wednesday it will ask parliament for 1.275 billion francs in loan guarantees for Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) units Swiss and Edelweiss. Strict travel restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic have brought flights to a near-halt across the world and there is no end in sight for when they can restart, leaving many airlines begging governments for rescue packages.

Fitch has downgraded Italy’s credit rating to a single notch above “junk”, saying the jump in debt levels resulting from the coronavirus crisis will increase doubts about the sustainability of Rome’s borrowings, the Financial Times reported.

Scandinavia’s biggest network airline, SAS AB, is eliminating as many as 5,000 jobs, marking the first permanent staff cuts by a major European carrier in the face of collapsing travel demand, Bloomberg News reported. The Stockholm-based company said Tuesday that the dismissals, amounting to 40% of the workforce, are necessary because employees have an average notice period of six months and it needs to prepare for what may be years of sluggish demand.