The number of UK businesses entering into administration has risen in the last six months, according to analysis from KPMG, Economia reported. The Big Four firm found that 1,174 companies entered into administration last year, compared with 1,111 in 2015, which was then a 15-year low. According to data collected from notices in the London Gazette, while the first six months of the year continued to see a decline in insolvencies, the second half of the year saw numbers rise.

The British government opened a long-awaited consultation on how to crack down on corporate fraud, money laundering and false accounting on Friday, in what it billed as an effort to repair public trust in businesses and improve accountability. Government ministers floated suggestions that ranged from introducing tough, U.S.-style laws that punish companies for the crimes of their staff to holding companies accountable for failing to prevent staff from committing such crimes and merely strengthening regulatory regimes.

Santander is considering ways to issue a new type of senior bond well in advance of the requisite legislation being passed, allowing it to chip away at an approximate 30bn issuance target over the next two years, Reuters reported. The Spanish bank said on Wednesday that it will issue 16bn-20bn in 2017 and another 12bn-15.5bn in 2018 of so-called senior non-preferred, set to become a major new asset class as European banks respond to regulatory demands to beef up their loss absorbing buffers.

The threat of the State-owned Bus Éireann becoming insolvent within the next 18 months is very real, its new acting chief executive has told staff, the Irish Times reported. Ray Hernan also said it was clear the loss-making company had to change its business model. However, he insisted that the Expressway service, the company’s commercial inter-city coach service which receives no State subsides, would “ continue to be part of Bus Éireann”. The Expressway service faces strong competition from private bus operators and accounts for the bulk of the company’s financial losses.

A leading German industry chief has warned the UK against expecting any softening of Berlin’s increasingly tough stance on Britain’s plans to leave the EU, the Financial Times reported. Dieter Kempf, who took over this month as president of the BDI, the German employers’ federation, told journalists on Tuesday there could be no question of Europe bowing to British demands for immigration controls, saying the EU’s four freedoms — including the freedom of movement — must not be “put into danger”.

The quarterly economic survey from the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and business advisers BDO shows that local firms ended 2016 more upbeat than compared to their immediate predominately gloomy reaction following the EU referendum vote in June, the Irish Times reported. However, when it comes to prospects for 2017, Northern Ireland businesses are decidedly pessimistic about what might lie ahead for the local economy – and that was before the growing political crisis this week.

Slovenian publishing and tourism group DZS said Ljubljana District Court has ordered the preventive restructuring of its financial liabilities, See News reported. The process will have no impact on the regular activities of the company and will allow DZS and its creditors to employ appropriate debt restructuring measures, the group said in a filing to the Ljubljana Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The Finnish-owned Hong Kong chain of discount stores applied to the Espoo District Court on Thursday for debt restructuring. The company’s 2016 books recorded 1.3 million euros in losses. The chain’s 27 department stores, most of which are located in the southern half of the country, will stay open during the proceedings. The Finnish chain of discount department stores that operate under the name Hong Kong has applied for debt restructuring in the face of major financial difficulties.

The restructuring of private equity-backed French clothing retailer Vivarte has been labelled a “brutal” example of “Anglo-Saxon ultra-liberalism” by nationalist politicians looking to score points ahead of the presidential election in May, the Financial Times reported. The comments by the French far-right National Front party led by Marine Le Pen highlight how corporate activity in France threatens to be affected by national politics this year.

A liquidator has been appointed to a property development company that was involved in one of the biggest pre-crash land deals in the State, according to documents filed with the Companies Registration Office last month, the Irish Times reported. Patrick Horkan of KPMG was appointed liquidator to Galway-based Osberstown Developments Ltd, which was controlled by developers Tom Considine, Paddy Sweeney and local businessman Gerry Prendergast.