Former presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin was forced to declare bankruptcy following a court order related to past campaign debt, the business newspaper Kommersant reported Thursday. Nadezhdin, 61, sought to challenge President Vladimir Putin in the March 2024 presidential race on an anti-war platform but was barred from running. Though unsuccessful, his short-lived campaign drew support from Russians opposed to the invasion of Ukraine despite a wartime crackdown on dissent.

A total of 2,718 companies shut down between January and March this year, the biggest number in the first quarter of any year since 2021, when 5,133 notices of liquidation were filed during the UK’s third lockdown, the Telegraph reported. There were 2,483 business closures in the first quarter of 2022, 2,348 in the first quarter of 2023 and 1,877 in the first quarter of 2024. Rachel Reeves raised taxes by a record £40 billion at the Budget in autumn, including a £25 billion rise in employers’ National Insurance.

Swiss inflation remained unchanged in March, though the impact of U.S. tariffs threaten to roil the country’s economy and push the Swiss National Bank to cut rates further, the Wall Street Journal reported. Annual inflation stayed at 0.3%, the same as February, matching the lowest level in almost four years, Switzerland’s federal statistics office said Thursday. Trends from increased package-holiday and clothing prices contrasted with declining energy and accommodation prices, it said.

The Spanish government will provide 14.1 billion euros ($15.66 billion) worth of measures to help its economy weather the impact of the new U.S. tariffs, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The new tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday have rattled markets and drew condemnation from world leaders facing an abrupt end of an era of trade liberalisation that has shaped the global order for decades. Spain, which like other European Union members was hit by U.S.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and its top business lobby warned on Wednesday that looming U.S. tariffs would have a major impact on the country's exports and already struggling economy, Reuters reported. "It is clear that the introduction of new tariffs would have heavy repercussions for Italian producers", Meloni said while hosting a prize-giving ceremony for Italian cuisine in Rome. Meloni added that she did not rule out "adequate responses" to protect the exports of the euro zone's third largest economy, though she did not elaborate.

U.S. President Donald Trump's planned tariffs will be negative across the world, with the damage depending on how far they go, how long they last and whether they lead to successful negotiations, European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The Trump administration on Wednesday is set to announce "reciprocal tariffs" targeting nations that have duties on U.S. goods. That move would come after it slapped new import levies on products from Mexico, China and Canada - the top U.S. trading partners - as well as on goods including steel and autos.

The French government is preparing to lower its growth forecast for this year, said work minister Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet on Wednesday, EuroNews.com reported. "We're more likely to be looking at 0.7%, which is the Bank of France's growth forecast," said the junior minister, interviewed by media channel France 2. That’s a revision from the state’s current prediction of 0.9%, used as a basis for France’s yearly finance bill. It also comes after economy minister Éric Lombard said on Tuesday that the government’s forecast would be lowered in the near future.

Thames Water has appointed a former Pennon Group PLC and Anglian Water executive as its new finance boss after the previous chief quit abruptly last week, MorningStar.co.uk reported. Steve Buck will join next week at a "pivotal" moment for the heavily indebted water group as it searches for a buyer to help stabilise its finances. Buck was formerly the CFO at Pennon, which owns South West Water, and at Anglian Water. He has also held a number of senior finance roles at British Gas owner Centrica PLC, and previously worked for Thames Water between 2002 and 2007.

The U.K. government has been told by a select committee that they must take a tough approach to clawing back taxpayers' money loaned to rugby union teams during the covid-19 pandemic, Worcester News reported. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) loaned £474million in total to 120 organisations in the sport and culture sectors to help them survive the impact of the pandemic, with £123.8m of that loaned to Premiership Rugby clubs.