High Street fashion chain Bank has fallen into administration, putting 1,500 jobs at risk, BBC News reported. "A review of the business has determined that a solvent turnaround would not be possible," said Bill Dawson from Deloitte, which has been appointed as administrator. The chain, which has 84 stores and 1,555 employees, has been loss-making for a number of years, Mr Dawson said. It was sold by JD Sports to investment firm Hilco Capital in November.

Europe has returned to the signature brinkmanship of the debt crisis that brought its currency union close to collapse five years ago: France and Germany are again warning Greece it is putting its eurozone membership at risk, The Wall Street Journal reported. With a Greek election looming this month, and a party hostile to European-imposed austerity apparently poised to win, French President François Hollande on Monday raised the possibility of Greece exiting the 19-member bloc—departing from the traditional stance that euro membership is irrevocable.

As a caustic election campaign in Greece revives fears that the country could leave the euro, European officials are taking an increasingly hard line toward Athens, saying they want to keep Greece in the single currency, though not at any cost, the International New York Times reported. The admonishments have stacked up in recent days — from Berlin, Paris and Brussels — intensifying what is shaping up to be another high-stakes standoff between Europe’s leaders and the eurozone’s most-troubled country.

Almost half of Poland’s credit unions are close to bankruptcy, as a collapse in the sector’s financial health strains the country’s banking bailout fund, the Financial Times reported. The industry is a primary source of funds for millions of poor and working-class people, mainly in rural areas and smaller cities. Of the 55 credit unions — known as SKOKs in Poland — that were operating 12 months ago, two have been declared bankrupt, two have been bought by banks in fire sales, and two have been forcibly merged.

Irish people are still going to the UK in large numbers to work out their debt difficulties despite the introduction of a similar service in Ireland, new research shows, the Irish Times reported. According to AJ Debt Solutions, an Irish insolvency firm which specialises in UK insolvency processes, it processed close to 100 individual voluntary agreements (IVAs) in the UK for Irish citizens in the last 18 months. This compares with just 59 debt settlement arrangements (DSAs) in the Irish system agreed since September 2013, although 220 applications have been made.

Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, may be pushing hard for a weaker euro to spur growth in Europe, but his central bank peers seem to be several steps ahead of him, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. In an interview with a German newspaper on Friday, Mr. Draghi, known for using his public comments to achieve policy goals, said the threat of deflation might force his bank to take more aggressive stimulus measures, which could include buying eurozone bonds in bulk.

From the days when monarchs over-borrowed for their mercantile adventures, to Argentina’s recent failure to pay its creditors, countries have long run into trouble paying back what they have borrowed. Spain’s 16th-century king, Philip II, reigned over four of his country’s defaults. Greece and Argentina have reneged on their commitments to bondholders seven and eight times respectively over the past 200 years. And most countries have defaulted at least once in their history. But what precisely happens when countries stop paying what they owe?

Germany has insisted that it expects Greece to stay in the eurozone, despite a news report claiming Berlin was ready to see Athens quit the common currency if the populist Syriza party wins this month’s snap election and reneges on the country’s reform programme, the Financial Times reported.

The sale of Novo Banco, the lender that emerged from the breakup of Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo, has drawn interest from 17 entities after firms including Banco Santander and Banco BPI said they may make bids. The Bank of Portugal announced the number following the New Year’s Eve deadline for entering the process, saying it would check whether the parties met pre-qualification requirements. Potential investors will get information and be invited to present non-binding bids. The Lisbon-based central bank is not identifying entities at this stage.

Russia has moved to support a number of large companies and banks as it tries to prop up a struggling economy and a banking sector battered by the rouble’s jitters, the Financial Times reported. On Wednesday, the government said it would support Yamal LNG, the Arctic gas project of Novatek, with Rbs150bn. Separately Gazprombank, the country’s third-largest lender, said the government had bought Rbs39.95bn in preferred shares, using money from a subordinated deposit the bank had returned to the National Wealth Fund.