Europe

Proper Music Group, the Swiss company formerly known as Utopia Music, has been hit with bankruptcy proceedings in Swiss court after the group failed to attend a court hearing related to a debt of 23,000 Swiss Francs ($27,360), Digital Music News reported. The provisional announcement of bankruptcy was filed on Tuesday, September 24. “We are disappointed that bankruptcy proceedings have been triggered.
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Germany's finance minister has conveyed to Italy's Treasury his concerns about any takeover of Commerzbank by Italian lender UniCredit, two people familiar with the matter said, as Berlin looks to halt a hostile deal, Reuters reported. Christian Lindner outlined his position to the Treasury — Italy's economy and finance ministry, led by Giancarlo Giorgetti — in tandem with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's public criticism this week of UniCredit's move to become the biggest investor in its German rival.
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Councillors have voted in favour of calling for a public inquiry into how a local authority amassed £1.5bn in debt, the BBC reported. The motion brought to Thurrock Council, in Essex, passed almost unanimously and was backed by Labour and most Conservatives on Thursday evening. A previous inquiry request was rejected by the Conservative government in April, despite votes from 1,500 residents to call one. Labour council leader John Kent said the government had been "oblivious" to the borrowing Thurrock was making.
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Stuart Preston and Julie Tait, the joint administrators of Signal Real Estate Opportunities Investco IX SARL, have applied to the Outer House for directions under Schedule B1 of the Insolvency Act 1986, Scottish Legal reported. While it was noted that concurrent insolvency proceedings in two jurisdictions were not uncommon, confusion arose as to the effect of the Luxembourg procedure in light of a potential co-operation agreement drafted by the noters and the receiver in bankruptcy. The note was considered by Lord Sandison, with DM Thomson KC and Boffey, advocate, appearing for the noters.
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Germany’s government decided to keep its stake in Commerzbank until further notice, after a sale of a portion of its shares to Italy’s UniCredit sparked speculation about a potential takeover, The Wall Street Journal reported. The German government — the biggest shareholder in Commerzbank — said Friday that it won’t offload any additional shares in the bank following the sale to UniCredit for 702 million euros ($783.5 million) completed last week, which reduced its ownership to 12% from 16.49%.

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Polish energy sector construction firm Rafako, based in the town of Racibórz, lodged an application for bankruptcy in a court on Thursday and its shares were suspended from trading on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, TVP World reported. “Without a deal on our debt it will be impossible to find a strategic investor for the company. It will also be impossible to continue operations or a return to trading on the stock market,” company chairman Maciej Stańczuk told the Businessinsider website, after attempts to persuade creditors to take shares in the firm in exchange for debt fell apart.

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Switzerland’s central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate for the third straight meeting as it pivots away from worries about high inflation toward concerns about the impact of a strong currency on exporters, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Swiss National Bank lowered its key rate to 1% from 1.25%, having cut borrowing costs by the same amount in June. Three months earlier, it became the first central bank from a rich, developed economy to ease policy since the start of the global inflation surge in 2021. The central bank said it might lower borrowing costs again.

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The Czech Republic’s central bank on Wednesday cut its key interest rate for the seventh time in a row as inflation remains low and amid the economy’s slow recovery, the Associated Press reported. The cut, which had been predicted by analysts, brought the interest rate down by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25%. The bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, the first cut since June 22, 2022. Further cuts of half a percentage point each time followed on Feb. 8, March 20, May 2 and June 27. Another cut by a quarter of a percentage point came on Aug 1.
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In the seven years that he has been France’s president, Emmanuel Macron has bet on tax cuts for the wealthy and for corporations as a recipe for stimulating the economy. His new government is about to tear up that playbook. Faced with a rapid deterioration in the nation’s finances, Mr.
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