Therium Group Holdings Ltd., a leading provider of litigation finance globally with over $800 million of assets under management, has appointed Stephen Akers to lead its insolvency funding practice, based in London, Litigation Finance Journal reported. Stephen is one of the world’s leading insolvency practitioners, with a career stretching more than three decades, in which he has worked on some of the most complex, multi-jurisdictional insolvency cases involving substantial litigation.

Greece is at risk of missing a first tranche of ECB profit returns on Greek bond holdings due to delays in the pace of privatisations despite over-performance on its fiscal targets, sources told Reuters on Tuesday. About 4.8 billion euros ($5.48 billion) of profits from Greek bonds held by the European Central Bank and other eurozone central banks are supposed to be channelled back to Athens by June, 2022, in semi-annual tranches, as agreed with Greece’s lenders under a post-bailout agreement, Reuters reported.

French carmaker Renault tapped its chief operating officer and a senior board member to fill in for embattled boss Carlos Ghosn, after an investigation by alliance partner Nissan led to his arrest on suspicion of financial misconduct, Reuters reported. Thierry Bollore, Ghosn’s operational second-in-command, will become deputy chief executive, while lead independent director Philippe Lagayette assumes the function of interim chairman, Renault said after a board meeting late on Tuesday.

Sentiment in Italy’s financial sector soured on Tuesday as the tug of war between the government and the EU over the country’s 2019 budget carried on and amid broader aversion to risk among investors, the Financial Times reported. The yield on the 10-year bond hit a session high of 3.711 per cent, an increase of 13 basis points, after the Italian deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio told a domestic radio show that although the two parties should work towards a solution, the key measures in the country’s budget should not be touched.

The economic gap between the south and north of England has widened since the UK voted to leave the EU, according to new forecasts of regional economic growth published by the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence, the Financial Times reported. After adjusting for inflation, London’s economy is roughly 5 per cent bigger than it was at the time of the referendum compared to growth of about 1.3 per cent in the North East of England, the data said.

The Pension Protection Fund is expected to lodge a claim of £305m with Johnston Press’s administrators amid concern that its pension scheme was not treated appropriately when the newspaper group went into administration, the Financial Times reported. The expected action by the PPF, which compensates members of pension schemes of failed companies, came as the Pensions Regulator began to probe Friday’s deal to rescue Johnston Press. When a company enters administration, the PPF seeks to cover the cost of taking on its pension scheme.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc said on Tuesday it has received a $681 million “stalking horse bid” by Swiss commodities trader Mercuria Energy Group Ltd, Reuters reported. The proposal has been filed with the U.S. bankruptcy court for the southern district of New York, the marine fuel logistics company said in a statement. The stalking horse agreement would imply that any other bids that come in must be higher than the offer from Mercuria. Earlier this month, Aegean Marine and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Euro zone finance ministers discussed on Monday ways to make sovereign debt restructuring easier and more predictable as they seek to put together a package of reforms for December to integrate the single currency area more closely. The ministers broadly supported the introduction of “single-limb” Collective Action Clauses (CACs) in euro zone bonds, which would allow for a single restructuring decision to encompass all bonds, Reuters reported. Existing CACs require separate restructuring for separate types of bonds issued by the government.

Operating losses at Irish explorer Botswana Diamonds increased by almost 45 per cent last year as the company lamented a lack of investment and a sector that is “out of favour”. The company, which has been heavily involved in diamond exploration in southern Africa since the 1980s, said losses for the year ended June 30th, 2018, grew to €556,407 from €310,898 the year before, The Irish Times reported. The company’s annual results show the increased losses can largely be attributed to a charge of €179,524 for the “impairment of exploration and evaluation assets”.

Euro-zone finance ministers remain worried about Italy’s budget row with the European Commission and are waiting for the next move from the EU executive this week before formally stepping up their pressure on Rome, top officials said on Monday. The ministers are in Brussels for an extraordinary meeting on euro-zone reform and Italy’s fiscal plans are not on the agenda, but Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra expressed the concerns as he entered the Eurogroup talks, The Irish Times reported. “We are all worried about the existing situation.