Like several hundred cities across France, Châteauneuf-les-Martigues took out a variable-interest-rate loan in the mid-2000s to restructure debt and reduce interest payments. The loans offered very low interest rates for the first few years, before the rate would start to vary according to the value of the Swiss franc. Contracts that convey currency risk in this way fall under the category of what are known as financial swaps, The Wall Street Journal reported. At their inception, the loans had appeal to both parties.

TP Ferro, the company that runs a high-speed rail link between Spain and France, filed for protection from creditors after failing to reach a debt restructuring agreement, its French co-owner said, Reuters reported. Construction firm Eiffage, which owns an equal share of the business with Spain's ACS, said late on Friday the link would continue to operate as the shareholders sought a quick solution to what it called an "unsustainable and precarious ... business model".

French corporate insolvencies continued to fall in April, data showed on Tuesday in the latest sign of an upturn in the euro zone's second largest economy. Figures published by French trade insurance company Coface showed there were a total of 62,473 corporate failures in the 12 months till end-April, 2.7 percent down on the previous year. That came after the 2.9 percent fall seen for the calendar 2014 year as a whole, the biggest such fall since 2010.

French President François Hollande said on a television interview on Sunday he’d spend at least €4 billion ($4.3 billion) on a new program that will subsidize working youth, The Wall Street Journal reported. During a wide-ranging two-hour interview on French cable channel Canal Plus, Mr. Hollande said his government will start to supplement the wages for those who are working and under 25 years old to incentivize young people to take on short-term jobs and part-time work.

The British bank HSBC said on Thursday that it had been placed under formal criminal investigation by French magistrates examining whether its Swiss private bank assisted wealthy clients to avoid taxes, the International New York Times reported. Investigating magistrates in France have been conducting an inquiry into whether HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) helped individuals avoid their tax-reporting requirements from 2006 to 2007. In November, the Swiss private banking unit was separately placed under formal investigation.

Corporate debt restructurings will become easier in France under proposals being considered by lawmakers to restrict shareholder involvement in the process, Bloomberg News reported. France’s Parliament will begin discussions today on a reform bill to bolster the nation’s growth potential. Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron is proposing to speed up insolvency procedures by making it simpler for companies to negotiate with lenders.

Corporate debt restructurings will become easier in France under proposals being considered by lawmakers to restrict shareholder involvement in the process, Bloomberg News reported. France’s Parliament will begin discussions today on a reform bill to bolster the nation’s growth potential. Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron is proposing to speed up insolvency procedures by making it simpler for companies to negotiate with lenders.

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.

Moving to battle high unemployment and a stagnant economy, the Socialist government of President François Hollande on Wednesday announced a long-promised program meant to stoke growth and create jobs, the International New York Times reported. The measures, including allowing more retail stores to open on Sundays, fall far short of what some experts say is needed to revive the stagnant French economy. Nonetheless, important members of Mr.

“Job-preservation agreements” that were designed to emulate Germany’s Kurzarbeit program—allowing companies to negotiate lower pay and working hours to stay afloat in difficult times—have run into a wall of bureaucracy that is distinctly French, The Wall Street Journal reported. While there have been fewer clashes with unions over layoffs thanks to streamlined procedures, employers say they still don’t have the flexibility they need to actually keep people in work. On the contrary, things are even more complex.