Headlines

The number of bankruptcies filed in Finland rose for the fourth consecutive year, with 333 filings recorded in April 2025, according to data from Statistics Finland. The figure is 38 higher than in April 2024, the Helsinki Times reported. The construction industry recorded the sharpest rise, with 87 companies filed for bankruptcy. Those firms accounted for 299 full-time equivalent jobs now under threat. The second most affected sector was services, which includes areas such as finance, real estate, education, and entertainment.

The number of bankruptcies in Sweden continues to tick higher as the uncertainty surrounding tariffs weighs on consumers’ willingness to spend, Bloomberg News reported. In May, 906 limited liability companies were declared bankrupt, up 3% from the same month a year ago, according to data compiled by credit reference agency Creditsafe i Sverige AB. The year-to-date figure of 4,616 bankruptcies is on par with last year’s tally. Read more.

Swiss solar panel maker Meyer Burger filed for insolvency for its German subsidiaries, the company said in a statement on Saturday, Reuters reported. Meyer Burger's German subsidiaries, Meyer Burger (Industries) GmbH and Meyer Burger (Germany) GmbH, have initiated insolvency proceedings, the company said. Efforts to keep the German sites open will be continued as part of the proceedings together with a provisional insolvency administrator to be appointed by the court.

Builder.ai, the artificial intelligence startup that recently announced plans to declare bankruptcy, faked business with the Indian social-media startup VerSe Innovation for years to falsely inflate its sales, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg and people with direct knowledge of the practice. The two companies routinely billed one another for roughly the same amounts between 2021 and 2024, documents reviewed by Bloomberg show, as part of an alleged practice known as "round-tripping" that the people said Builder.ai used to inflate revenue figures it presented to investors.

Azul said it received interim court approvals related to the company’s chapter 11 petitions filed in the U.S., WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The court granted approval for the Brazilian airline operator to access $250 million of its $1.6 billion debtor-in-possession financing after a first-day hearing.

Three community centres are to be handed back to a city council after the charity running them announced it was folding, BBC.com reported. The Newcastle Community Asset Trust (NCAT) managed community hubs in Fawdon, Cowgate, and Blakelaw, with the latter also housing a post office which had to temporarily close. The charity blamed rising costs, reduced funding and the long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic for its "painful" decision. Newcastle City Council confirmed all three centres would remain open and "accessible to tenants and residents as normal".

Fantasy werewolves are set to haunt Shiver — the much-anticipated film based on the first novel in the Wolves of Mercy Falls romantasy series which wrapped filming in Vancouver late last year. But the financial wolves at the doors of the movie's producers have put Shiver on ice — forcing the production company formed to make the film into insolvency and leaving hundreds of Canadian creditors out millions of dollars, CBC.ca reported. A British Columbia Supreme Court judge placed Mercy Falls B.C.

The European Commission said on Saturday that Europe was prepared to retaliate against President Donald Trump's plan to double tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, raising the prospect of an escalating trade fight between two of the world's largest economic powers, Reuters reported. Trump's announcement on Friday that he would increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, intensifies his global trade war and came just hours after he accused China of violating an agreement with the U.S. to mutually roll back levies and trade restrictions for critical minerals.

Factory activity slowed across much of Asia in May as uncertainty over U.S. tariffs continued to cause steep declines in new orders, purchasing managers surveys show, the Wall Street Journal reported. The latest set of S&P Global purchasing managers indexes showed another pullback in manufacturing last month amid trade policy worries and subdued demand.

The downturn in euro zone manufacturing eased further in May, coming close to stabilisation as production increased for the third consecutive month and supported by a near-stabilisation in demand, a survey showed on Monday, Reuters reported. The HCOB Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 49.4 in May from 49.0 in April, marking a 33-month high and in line with a preliminary estimate but remaining below the 50.0 threshold separating growth from contraction.