As 2020 dawned, bankers throughout Europe were still digging out of the last crisis, with weak lenders in Greece and Italy peddling soured loans and policy makers channeling public funds to frail institutions, Bloomberg News reported. Now, as Covid-19 wreaks havoc, a gathering tsunami of distressed credit risks wrecking a decade of efforts aimed at bolstering the fragile financial industry. The fallout could also undermine the extraordinary efforts by governments and central banks to prevent an economic meltdown.

Measures taken by Transocean Ltd. to stave off a bankruptcy filing could be exactly what ends up sending the offshore drilling company into Chapter 11 alongside some of its biggest peers, Bloomberg News reported. The world’s largest owner of deep-water oil rigs recently engineered a bond swap to trim some of its $9 billion debt load and ease the crunch caused by slumping energy prices. But other creditors, led by Whitebox Advisors LLC and Pacific Investment Management Co., say the transaction amounts to a default because it pledges assets that Transocean already promised to them.

The UK’s economic recovery faltered in September due to the Eat Out to Help Out scheme ending and the renewal of lockdown restrictions, Business Sale Report reported. Business profits remained unchanged from a month earlier, down 21 per cent, while businesses on average reported that profits were down 42 per cent on what they would normally expect for the month of September. According to the Opinium-Cebr Business Distress Tracker, 35 per cent of businesses said that trading conditions were good at the end of September, down from 39 per cent a month earlier.

Finablr said on Tuesday technology and software solutions firm Prism Advance Solutions has made a takeover offer for the UK-listed payments group that includes restructuring and settlement of its debts, but gave no further details on the bid size, Reuters reported. The proposed deal would provide working capital for Finablr and its subsidiaries and Prism will restructure the company’s board. Finablr said it would negotiate a share purchase agreement with Prism.

Britain’s hospitality trade is likely to see more than half a million job losses after the government’s furlough scheme ends this month, as local lockdowns and reduced opening hours hurt the sector, an industry representative said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, told Britain’s parliament that recent restrictions meant she needed to revise up a forecast of 560,000 permanent job losses -- out of 900,000 currently furloughed workers -- that the body made last month after surveying its members.

Premier Oil Plc will be swallowed by Chrysaor Holdings Ltd. in a reverse takeover, marking the end of the road for one of the oldest independent oil explorers, Bloomberg News reported. The deal, which was first reported by Bloomberg, comes after Premier labored for years under a mountain of debt. The company has finally bowed to pressure from creditors, with Chief Executive Officer Tony Durrant abandoning his plan to acquire some of BP Plc’s North Sea assets and agreeing to step down.

The global economy is in “less dire” shape than it was in June but risks crashing again if governments end fiscal and monetary support too soon, fail to control the coronavirus and ignore emerging market debt problems, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Criminals may have made billions of pounds by exploiting a government loan scheme to help British businesses hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, while large losses are expected from firms unable to repay, the country’s spending watchdog has said, Reuters. The Bounce Back Loan Scheme was launched in early May, allowing banks quickly to lend businesses up to 50,000 pounds ($64,875) with 100% state guarantee.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded Cineworld Group plc's (Cineworld) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'CCC-' from 'B-' and senior secured debt issued by its wholly owned subsidiary Crown Finance US Inc. to 'CCC' from ‘B’…Fitch Ratings reported. The downgrade reflects the temporary suspension of operations in the US and UK, fast-depleting liquidity and the continued, significant uncertainty on the pace of recovery as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

A unit of British restaurant chain PizzaExpress is seeking bankruptcy protection in the U.S. PizzaExpress Financing 2 Plc filed for Chapter 15 in the Southern District of Texas Court, according to filing, Bloomberg News reported. Chapter 15 shields foreign companies from lawsuits by U.S. creditors while they reorganize in another country. The iconic restaurant chain had been struggling even before the pandemic as changing dining trends reduced demand for its pizzas, and as Hony’s efforts to expand its business outside the U.K. stretched its balance sheet.