Headlines

Harland & Wolff, the British holding company for the shipyard that built the Titanic and other 20th-century ocean liners, said on Monday that it was going into administration, similar to U.S. bankruptcy proceedings, after months of intense financial turmoil, the New York Times reported. The company said in a regulatory filing that it was insolvent and that the advisory firm Teneo would be appointed as the administrator. While Harland & Wolff will go into administration, the company’s four shipyards will continue operating, it said.

The number of bankruptcies in August decreased significantly compared to the previous month, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the NL Times reported. In August, 307 companies and institutions, including one-person businesses, were declared bankrupt, down 18 percent compared to July. Despite the month-to-month improvement, roughly 40 percent more bankruptcies were declared in the first eight months of 2024 when compared to the same period last year. A total of 378 companies were declared bankrupt in July, which was 71 more than in August.

The number of personal bankruptcies in Slovakia decreased by 20 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 688 in August, the third lowest figure seen this year, according to an analysis published by CRIF – Slovak Credit Bureau (CRIF SK), which manages the credit registries of banking and non-banking houses, TASR.SK reported. Of the total number of bankruptcies, 428 concerned men and 260 women, confirming the long-term trend that men go bankrupt more often than women. "Men accounted for over 62 percent of personal bankruptcies in August.

H.I.G. Capital is injecting €50 million ($55 million) into Berlin-based property developer Ziegert, according to people familiar with the matter, one of the first such deals in the sector since a slump caused by a sharp rise in construction costs and drop in demand, Bloomberg News reported. Germany’s property market is reeling from the end of the cheap-money era that pushed a slew of developers into insolvency or debt restructuring. While some investors have picked up property assets out of bankruptcy, there have been few investments into healthy firms in the sector.

Bank of Montreal persuaded a U.S. appeals court on Thursday to throw out a $564 million jury verdict against a subsidiary over its role in an approximately $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme run by convicted Minnesota businessman Tom Petters, Reuters reported. Citing a similar case involving Bernard Madoff, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said that a court-appointed trustee for the now-bankrupt Petters Co could not recover on behalf of its creditors because that firm had helped orchestrate the fraud. The 3-0 decision by the St.

A U.S. court ruling that placed into bankruptcy units associated with Indian education technology company Byju’s took an official in the firm’s home country by surprise, Bloomberg News reported. The decision, made at a Tuesday hearing in Delaware, will lead to involuntary chapter 11 bankruptcy of units including Neuron Fuel Inc., Epic! Creations Inc. and Tangible Play Inc., court papers showed. The order was made as a default judgment after the units failed to share requested information with creditors.

Brazilian airline Azul has moved closer to clinching a new deal with lessors as the company offers them equity to pay off some $600 million in debt, Reuters reported. Shares in the carrier jumped over 20% in Friday trading after Reuters first reported on the progress in negotiations. Azul's shares had slipped over 40% since August on media reports that it was considering filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it struggles with its debt load. The company has said it is focused on direct talks with creditors.

At the end of 2022, the Selina hospitality chain went public on Wall Street through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) at a value of $1.2 billion. Founded and managed by Israelis Daniel Rudasevski and Rafi Museri, Selina was one of the hottest brands in the market, presenting investors with plans for a novel hospitality experience. However, its performance did not meet expectations, and within less than two years, the chain fell into insolvency, Calcalistech.com reported. By the end of August, all its assets were sold.

Thailand expects less than 40 million people to sign up for its flagship digital wallet handout scheme, with the first phase set to be distributed to 14.5 million vulnerable people from Sept. 25, a finance ministry official said on Monday, Reuters reported. The government has planned to give away 450 billion baht ($13.6 billion) to 45 million people under its stimulus programme, which will see 10,000 baht ($300) transferred to each person who registers to spend in their localities within six months.

The International Monetary Fund is aiming to make a decision on whether to ease billions of dollars in loan fees, which have been criticized as unjustly punitive on borrower countries, before its annual gathering in Washington, D.C., next month, Bloomberg News reported. The IMF’s executive board plans to hold an informal meeting on the so-called surcharges review, which it announced in April, on Monday afternoon in Washington, according to people familiar with the plan, who asked not to be identified without permission to speak publicly.