The number of insolvencies of joint partnerships and corporations in Germany has reached its highest level in 20 years, data published on Thursday by the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) showed, DPA International reported. It reported there were 1,626 insolvencies of business partnerships and corporations in April. This was 11% more than in the previous month and 21% more than a year ago. The April figures even exceeded the figures from the time of the 2008/2009 financial crisis, it said.

Sanjeev Gupta is set to call in administrators to place his main commodities trading business into insolvency, marking the final chapter for one of the controversial metals magnate’s oldest companies, the Financial Times reported. Liberty Commodities, which last month renamed itself to 3349135 Limited, on Thursday filed a “notice of intention to appoint an administrator”, according to UK court records. Liberty Commodities once claimed to trade billions of dollars in metals a year and is one of the oldest companies in Gupta’s GFG Alliance conglomerate.

Austrian prosecutors said on Friday they had placed a woman under investigation on suspicion of helping property tycoon Rene Benko hide assets from administrators and creditors dealing with his real estate group Signa's collapse, Reuters reported. Benko has been in custody for more than three months as the Central Prosecutors' Office for Economic Crimes and Corruption (WKStA) continues its investigation into whether assets that should have gone towards paying back creditors were hidden in a trust of which his immediate family are beneficiaries.

The wind industry is crucial to Europe’s ambitions to tackle climate change and enhance energy security, but three months into President Trump’s second term in office, industry executives are reassessing their approach to renewable energy, the New York Times reported. An important question is whether the president’s initial flurry of actions, as well as worries about what may come, will derail what looked like the beginning of an industry recovery.

A group representing General Motors, Ford and Stellantis blasted President Donald Trump's trade deal announced with the United Kingdom, saying it would harm the U.S. auto sector, Reuters reported. British carmakers will be given a quota of 100,000 cars a year that can be sent to the United States at a 10% tariff rate, almost the total Britain exported last year, compared to 25% for Mexico and Canada and nearly all other countries. "Under this deal, it will now be cheaper to import a UK vehicle with very little U.S.

Siewert & Kau, a well-known IT distributor based in Bergheim, has filed for insolvency proceedings at the Cologne District Court, marking a significant development for one of Germany's largest medium-sized IT retailers, the Pinnacle Gazette reported. The company, which has been in operation for over 30 years, employs around 400 people across several European locations, including Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. As of Monday, May 5, 2025, insolvency administrator Marion Rodine and her team have been on site to stabilize business operations.

President Trump announced an agreement on trade with the U.K. on Thursday, the first in what the White House hopes is a series of such developments since it imposed tariffs against allies and adversaries, the Wall Street Journal reported. Trump teased the announcement on Truth Social earlier, calling the agreement “full and comprehensive,” and added: “Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!” U.K. officials said the pact isn’t a comprehensive trade agreement and will instead focus on reducing tariffs in specific sectors.

The Bank of England cut interest rates on Thursday, although the uncertain impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on economic growth brought a surprise three-way split among policymakers, Reuters reported. The BoE's rate-setters voted 5-4 in favour of cutting borrowing costs by quarter of a percentage point to 4.25%. Two members of the Monetary Policy Committee, Swati Dhingra and Alan Taylor, voted for a bigger half-point cut, while Chief Economist Huw Pill and external member Catherine Mann wanted to keep rates on hold.

Swedish and Norwegian policymakers left their key rates unchanged Thursday, mirroring the Federal Reserve’s decision to hold a day earlier as they assess the economic impact of tariffs, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sweden’s central bank held its key policy rate at 2.25% but suggested that further rate cuts could be on the horizon if U.S. President Trump’s tariff hikes threaten to weaken economic growth and push inflation lower. Policymakers said that uncertainty in the global economy has increased significantly since Trump took office, not least as a result of the new U.S.

Ukraine is starting to consider a shift away from the U.S. dollar, possibly linking its currency more closely to the euro amid the splintering of global trade and its growing ties to Europe, Central Bank Governor Andriy Pyshnyi told Reuters.