Europe

August 2024 saw 102 company insolvencies registered in Scotland, 9% lower than the number in August 2023, Scottish Financial News reported. The total number of company insolvencies was comprised of 56 CVLs, 42 compulsory liquidations, two administrations and two receivership appointments. There were no CVAs. The total insolvency rate in Scotland in the 12 months to August 2024 was 53.2 per 10,000 companies on the effective register. This was down by 1.7 from the preceding 12 months ending August 2023.

ISG, a U.K.-headquartered construction giant with a presence across Ireland, wider Europe and the Middle East is facing collapse, with the firm preparing to place much of its business into insolvency, the Irish Examiner reported. The firm employs more than 2,000 people and is one of the largest construction companies in the UK. It’s collapse would be the biggest casualty in the sector since Carillion went into liquidation in 2018. Six of the firm’s subsidiaries filed notices of intention to appoint administrators on Thursday.

Lenders to Northvolt AB have selected investment bank PJT Partners to help advise on options as a cash crunch deepens at the troubled maker of electric-car batteries, Bloomberg News reported. While there are no restructuring talks under way, PJT will work alongside law firm Milbank LLP, which was already a lender adviser, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private information. Creditors are preparing for a range of scenarios at the Swedish manufacturer.

Romania's Ilfov Court has appointed a local consortium comprising insolvency management firms Infinexa Restructuring and Prime Insolv Practice as the judicial administrator of insolvent meat processor Angst Ro, Infinexa said on Thursday, SeeNews.com reported. Angst was declared insolvent in March at the request of its creditors, meat processor Abatorul Peris and food retailer Primo Mix Food.

Households face increased bills unless councils are given greater powers, the leader of Cotswold District Council has warned, BBC.com reported. Councillor Joe Harris added that many councils only have weeks between learning how much money they will receive before publishing their spending plans. “You wouldn’t run a business like that - we need long-term funding certainty so we can plan two or three years ahead,” Mr Harris added. The government has promised to “get councils back on their feet” by introducing multi-year funding settlements.

The European Central Bank must think hard about how it deals with risks and uncertainty in an era of more-volatile inflation and less clarity about monetary-policy transmission, President Christine Lagarde said, Bloomberg News reported. “We should reflect on how our policy framework incorporates risk assessments,” she said Friday in a speech at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, referring to the ongoing review of the ECB’s policy strategy.

The European Union’s top official said on a trip to Kyiv on Friday that Europe would offer Ukraine a loan of 35 billion euros, about $39 billion, backed by frozen Russian assets, the New York Times reported. European leaders said the loan would move forward initially without contributions from the United States, after talks between American and European officials stalled in recent days. The official, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to reiterate Europe’s continued support for his country.

Germany’s government took a first step toward privatizing Uniper SE, the utility it nationalized at the peak of Europe’s energy crisis in 2022 after Russia curbed gas flows to the region, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s finance ministry said an initial public offering is its preferred option for selling the company, according to a statement. It’s also considering off-market sale alternatives. The announcement marks a momentous step after the bailout just under two years ago, which was one of the largest in German corporate history.

The Bank of England kept interest rates at 5.0% on Thursday, saying it would be careful about future cuts, and also held off from running down its bond holdings at a faster pace, avoiding extra budget strains for finance minister Rachel Reeves, Reuters reported. The Monetary Policy Committee voted 8-1 to keep rates on hold. Only external member Swati Dhingra voted for a further quarter-point rate cut after the BoE last month delivered its first reduction to borrowing costs since 2020.

Norway’s central bank held its key policy rate at 4.5%, a level that is expected to remain unchanged until the end of the year as a weak krone continues to threaten efforts to bring inflation down, the Wall Street Journal reported. The policy rate has been at 4.5% since December 2023 and has helped slow inflation significantly from its peak, but underlying inflation hasn’t declined to the same extent, while a rapid rise in business costs and the krone’s depreciation will likely restrain further disinflation, the bank said Thursday.