Headlines

Sono Motors GmbH has filed for insolvency for the second time as the company announced on Monday that it ceased operations as of July 31, PV-Magazine.com reported. The Munich-based start-up was founded in 2016 to develop and commercialise the solar-powered electric vehicle Sion. However, the project failed, and Sono Motors filed for insolvency in May 2023, subsequently attempting to restructure through protective shield proceedings. Since 2024, the company had focused entirely on its B2B solar business, which developed and offered photovoltaic solutions for the automotive industry.

A long-standing packaging manufacturer in southwestern Germany is facing potential closure as Karl Mayer Kartonagenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG, based in Haiterbach, has filed for insolvency. Approximately 110 employees are directly affected and now face uncertainty regarding their employment future, The Munich Eye reported. The packaging company, which has been in operation since 1958, specializes in producing customized corrugated cardboard packaging solutions for commercial and industrial clients.

B2B payment behavior in Turkey has worsened in recent months, as reflected in the latest Credit and Guarantee Payment Practices Barometer, which included more than 200 companies from sectors such as construction, retail, and services, Atalayar.com reported. Eighty-six percent report experiencing delays in collecting payments on invoices. Customer liquidity problems are the main cause of insolvencies in 75% of cases, followed at a considerable distance by bank delays (25%). The operational consequences are significant.

Sleep Country Canada Inc. says it has completed its acquisition of Sleep Number, BNNBloomberg reported. The Toronto-based retailer says the deal will make it the second-largest sleep retailer in the world. Earlier in July, Sleep Country announced plans to expand into the U.S. market with the acquisition of Sleep Number following a court-supervised sale process. Documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court say Sleep Country agreed to pay about US$702 million for the assets.

A South Korean securities firm moved to have Florida-based investment firm Ria R Squared Inc.'s bankruptcy tossed as a bad faith filing, Bloomberg Law reported. Ria’s chapter 11 case was filed as a litigation tactic to avoid a ruling in a long-running New York state court battle, Shinhan Securities Co.. said in a Thursday motion to dismiss in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Swiss inflation fell in July despite a rebound in global energy prices following a flare-up of conflict in the Middle East, which has driven up inflation in other parts of Europe, the Wall Street Journal reported. The annual rate of inflation was 0.4%, down from 0.5% in June, Swiss data agency FSO said Monday. This marks the lowest rate of inflation since March. The FSO said the on-month decline was driven by lower prices for air transport, diesel and petrol, though heating oil prices rose.

Britain could be plunged into recession if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed until spring next year, economists have warned, The Telegraph reported. EY's latest economic outlook has predicted the economy will shrink by 0.2pc in 2027 if the conflict in the Middle East persists, including two quarters of negative growth in the first six months of the year. The contraction would be driven by surging inflation, as EY forecast that price rises could more than double to 6.4pc by the end of the year.

The United States and Japan last week carried out a rare coordinated intervention in foreign exchange markets to stabilize the rapidly weakening yen, marking the first joint operation of its kind in more than a decade, the New York Times reported. President Trump confirmed on Sunday that the Treasury Department had assisted Japanese authorities. In a statement, Satsuki Katayama, Japan’s finance minister, said the intervention was taken to counter “excessive volatility and disorderly movements” in the yen after months of sustained weakness.

South Africa took a step on Monday toward bringing cryptocurrency into its financial rulebook, releasing ‌draft guidelines that for the first time spell out when ‌moving crypto across borders becomes a regulated and reportable event, Reuters reported. The draft Crypto Asset Manual, published ​jointly by the National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank, builds on a broader overhaul of the country's capital flow rules proposed in April. The move comes as crypto use deepens in South Africa.

Iran is accepting Bitcoin from commercial shipping in exchange for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the U.S. Treasury, whose Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two firms behind the scheme on Wednesday, Decrypt.com reported. Vessels crossing the chokepoint, which carries a fifth of the world's oil, are required to buy maritime "insurance" approved by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The cover protects against risks Iran itself creates, Treasury said, chiefly the seizure of vessels.