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A Tokyo Shōkō Research report found that the number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan involving a total liability of ¥10 million or more rose by 2.9% year on year in 2025 to 10,300, Nippon.com reported. This was the second successive year for the total to exceed 10,000. The bankrupt firms included the listed company Alt, an artificial intelligence developer, after accounting irregularities came to light. However, overall liabilities fell by 32% to ¥1.6 trillion, as many of the bankruptcies involved microenterprises with liabilities of less than ¥100 million.
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The U.K. Insolvency Service said that it is trying to refund £500,000 to customers who paid a fee for a debt relief order (DRO) but did not submit their application, according to a press release. Thousands of people are due a refund after the Government scrapped the £90 application fee for DROs in April 2024 to make things easier for those struggling with debt. A DRO is an alternative to bankruptcy, allowing people to make a fresh start if they have less than £50,000 of personal debt. Applications for DROs are made through authorised debt advisers or charities.
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It’s only four months since the UK and Ireland operations of Claire’s was bought out of administration but the business was back there as of Monday, FashionNetwork.com reported. First reported by Sky News, it seems insolvency practitioners from Kroll are handling the process with over a thousand high street jobs at risk. That comes after a significant number of jobs had previously been cut on its insolvency filing last autumn.
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Turkey is planning to tighten access to bankruptcy protections after a surge in applications, as authorities seek to curb what they say is misuse of a key debt-restructuring tool, Bloomberg News reported. Draft proposals seen by Bloomberg would overhaul the country’s concordat system, a court-supervised process that allows financially distressed companies to postpone payments and restructure with creditors instead of entering bankruptcy.
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German language teaching group Carl Duisberg Centren will cease trading and close all of its centres this week after a period of administration has failed to rescue the company, StudyTravel Magazine reported. Carl Duisberg Centren (CDC) was established in 1962 and operates as a non-profit organisation with six schools across Germany and a portfolio of adult programmes including intensive German, exam preparation and university preparation, as well as summer camps for juniors.
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The German Federal Fiscal Court Jan. 22 posted online Decision No. VI R 5/23, clarifying the rights of insolvency administrators to file assessment applications in tax refund cases for employees, Bloomberg Tax reported. The taxpayer, a debtor in insolvency, had a tax return filed on his behalf by an insolvency administrator who signed it alone. The Tax Office refused to conduct the assessment, contending that the taxpayer’s signature was also needed. Upon the former administrator’s death, a new administrator was appointed and continued the case.
India and the European Union struck a long‑delayed deal on Tuesday that will slash tariffs on most goods, aiming to boost two‑way trade and reduce reliance on the United States amid growing global trade tensions, Reuters reported. The deal is expected to double EU exports to India by 2032 by eliminating or reducing tariffs in 96.6% of traded goods by value, and will lead to savings of 4 billion euros ($4.75 billion) in duties for European companies, the EU said.
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South Korea scrambled on Tuesday to assure the U.S. it remained committed to implementing a trade deal after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would hike tariffs on autos and other imports from its ally, blaming a delay in enacting the pact agreed last year, Reuters reported. Trump said on Monday that South Korea's parliament was not living up to its side of the deal by swiftly enacting the agreement he reached with President Lee Jae Myung to make huge investments in U.S. business projects in return for tariff cuts.
A proposed reform of Venezuela's oil law is enough to encourage companies working in the country to expand and for some new entrants to begin investing, but deeper reforms would be necessary to attract the $100 billion the U.S. says is required to revamp the nation's energy sector, foreign and local executives and lawyers said, Reuters reported. The U.S. has taken control of Venezuela's oil exports and revenue following a military incursion to capture President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month, and a naval blockade to stop oil shipments on sanctioned vessels since December.
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Europe's economy risks falling further behind other regions unless the European Union overhauls regulation that is undermining banks' ability to lend, the European Banking Federation has warned, Reuters reported. The current situation was "neither satisfactory, nor sustainable," the industry group said in a letter addressed to European Commission officials including President Ursula von der Leyen.
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