The Genevan jeweler De Grisogono SA, known for extravagant diamond jewelry worn by the likes of Paris Hilton, filed for bankruptcy, ensnared in a corruption probe involving Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of Angola’s former president, Bloomberg News reported. De Grisogono couldn’t secure a buyer despite talks that lasted several months, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The failed negotiations forced the company to file for creditor protection with Swiss authorities, which if accepted, will affect 65 jobs in the nation, the company said.

A former BHS director pursued over the collapse of the department store group has agreed to a five-year ban on holding similar roles at other organisations, the Financial Times reported. The action against Lennart Henningson completes an investigation by the Insolvency Service into individuals involved in BHS’s failure, the service said in an update on its website. The “statement of unfit conduct” said Mr Henningson did not dispute that while serving as a BHS director he transferred £1.5m from the floundering company to a Swedish subsidiary he controlled.

British car production fell to its lowest level in almost a decade last year as warnings intensified that the UK needed to “re-establish” its reputation as a place to invest, the Financial Times reported. Output fell 14 per cent to 1.3m, the worst since 2010, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders on Thursday. The decline of diesel, falling sales to China, and production shutdowns in anticipation of Brexit all hit output, pushing exports down by 14.7 per cent and production for the home market down by 12.3 per cent.

Italy’s UBI is set to extend an insurance partnership with Cattolica for a limited time, sources familiar with the matter said, delaying longer-term decisions while it waits to see how consolidation among mid-sized banks plays out, Reuters reported. Italy’s fifth-largest bank is seen playing a leading role in a new round of M&A between second-tier lenders grappling with negative rates, a stagnating economy and a digital revolution in the industry.

A decision on the future of the Elga coal project, one of the world’s largest coking coal deposits, is likely in the first quarter of 2020, the regional governor said in an interview, Reuters reported. Expansion of the mine, first developed by Russian steel and coal producer Mechel, has stalled in recent years as the project in the remote Yakutia region of Russia’s Far East demands significant investment to reach its annual operating capacity of 30 million tonnes.

The difference in the figures speaks for itself: 27,792 cases of mortgage arrears where a payment has not been paid for two years or more, and 3,841 personal insolvency arrangements since 2013 where in many cases banks and other creditors agree to debt write-down deals, The Irish Times reported. Michael McNaughton, the new director of the Insolvency Service of Ireland, which overseas the State’s still-nascent insolvency regime, has called for more collaborative, imaginative engagement between debtors and personal insolvency practitioners on one side, and creditors on the other.

Six eurozone banks have fallen below the European Central Bank’s capital requirements and been told to take action to fix the shortfalls, underlining the continuing fragility of Europe’s banking sector, the Financial Times reported. The number of banks falling short of their main capital requirements in the eurozone has increased from only one last year, illustrating how the sector remains under pressure from ultra-low interest rates, inefficient cost structures and fines for past misconduct.

Germany is working on a draft law on reducing risks in the banking sector which foresees the participation of creditors and shareholders in the event of a bankruptcy, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The draft law provides for big banks to put aside 8% of their balance sheet total as a buffer during a crisis, the finance ministry said. The draft law is meant to implement parts of a wider European Union package of banking rules, which was agreed by member states last year, into national law.

A lack of trust between banks and personal insolvency advisers is blocking attempts to resolve long-term mortgage arrears cases, the State’s new insolvency agency chief Michael McNaughton has said, The Irish Times reported. Mr McNaughton, who took over as director of the Insolvency Service of Ireland last year, has urged banks and personal insolvency practitioners to be “more collaborative” in their dealings with each other in order to resolve the large post-crisis backlog of insolvent mortgage cases.

When John Zhao sealed the £900m takeover of the UK’s PizzaExpress in 2014 he burnished his reputation as a pioneer in China’s private equity industry, the Financial Times reported. Two years later Hony Capital, his buyout firm, ploughed money into WeWork as the New York shared-office provider set its sights on an aggressive expansion in China. Both deals shared a simple premise: take well-known western brands to China and they will flourish.