Headlines

Business registrations in the EU rose by 0.5% in the final quarter of 2025 compared with the previous quarter, while bankruptcy declarations increased by 2.5%, the Brussels Times reported. The figures cover the fourth quarter of 2025 and compare it with the third quarter, Eurostat reported on Monday. Registrations increased in five of eight parts of the “business economy” — a broad grouping of non-financial market sectors.

Two former members of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) will examine the status reports of various residential projects of Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL), particularly Wish Town township in the city, where around 17,000 homebuyers have been awaiting possession of their flats for years, the Times of India reported. On Thursday, NCLT appointed the two former members — PK Mohanty and Dr Deepti Mukesh — to independently assess the progress of construction and compliance with a resolution plan, approved three years ago, in the insolvency matter of JIL.

Financial creditors are now leading the charge at bankruptcy tribunals, overtaking the vendors and service providers who once dominated filings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), LiveMint.com reported. The shift marks a turning point in how the law is being used: less as a pressure tactic for recovering trade dues and more as a lender-driven restructuring framework. Data from the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) shows that banks and other financial creditors accounted for 47% of cases admitted between April and December, compared with 33% by operational creditors.

The lender that seized control of Very from the Barclay family has provided the online retailer with £150m in financial support while it attempts to engineer a sale, The Telegraph reported. U.S. investment giant Carlyle has pumped new money into Very as part of a support package to ease financial pressures on the debt-laden business. As well as providing a cash injection, Carlyle has also converted some of its debt into equity to help reduce pressure on the retailer from interest payments. The Telegraph understands that Carlyle’s total package is £150m.

Statistics Canada says lower prices at the pump and easing shelter inflation helped rein in the pressure facing consumers in January, BNN Bloomberg reported. The agency said Tuesday that the annual rate of inflation ticked down to 2.3 per cent last month. Economists had expected inflation to hold steady at 2.4 per cent. StatCan said gas prices were 16.7 per cent lower year-over-year in January, largely thanks to the end of the consumer carbon price in April. That decline helped offset food inflation, which accelerated to 7.3 per cent annually in January.

Italian exports to the United States rose by more than 7% last year, data showed on Tuesday, despite tariffs imposed by President ‌Donald Trump in July which had triggered fears of a major dampening impact, Reuters reported. Imports ‌from Italy, the European Union's third-largest economy, are subject to a 15% tariff imposed on most EU goods, ​with additional duties threatened against pasta makers amid an anti-dumping probe from the U.S. Commerce Department. Nonetheless, Italian exports to the U.S.

Japan's economy barely expanded at a 0.2% annual pace in the last quarter, with private consumption rising by 0.4% between October and December, Euronews.com reported. The minor growth in consumption was offset by a 1.1% drop in exports, according to the latest seasonally adjusted preliminary data. Growth for all of 2025 came in at just 1.1% as Japan’s export-reliant economy has been shaken by US President Donald Trump's tariffs. On a quarterly basis, the economy grew only 0.1%, the Japanese government reported.

Household debts are rising at their fastest pace in seven months, fuelled by an increase in borrowing among the young, The Telegraph reported. Borrowing rose across all age groups apart from 25 to 34-year-olds in February, according to the S&P Global Consumer Sentiment index. Debts climbed the fastest among those aged 18 to 24. Gen Z debt surged, with this age group struggling to find work. The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds jumped to 15.3pc in the three months to September.

Jason Sward from Queensland, Australia, has landed himself with 2.5 years behind bars for multiple indictable offences, with six months imprisonment for each offence, to be served concurrently, AccountantsDaily.com reported. Sentenced in the Southport District Court, Sward was released on recognisance of $2,000 after pleading guilty to the six offences of:

· Two offences of disposing of property within 12 months before a petition has been filed with intent to defraud creditors.

· Disposing of property after a petition had been filed with intent to defraud creditors.

Animoca Brands has obtained a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence from Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), clearing the way for the Web3 investment giant to offer broker-dealer and asset management services to institutional and qualified investors in and from the emirate, Decrypt.com reported.