A Luxembourg court on Friday rejected a request by two holding companies of Portugal's Espirito Santo family for "controlled management", a sort of bankruptcy protection from creditors, Reuters reported. Espirito Santo Financial Group (ESFG) and its subsidiary Espirito Santo Financiere SA still have the right to appeal, and the court has yet to decide on two other holding companies controlled by the family. ESFG is Banco Espirito Santo's largest shareholder, and is controlled by the bank's founding Espirito Santo family.

A Luxembourg court on Tuesday accepted requests for creditor protection filed earlier by Espirito Santo Financial Group (EFSG) and Rio Forte Investments, holding companies of Portugal's troubled Espirito Santo family, Reuters reported. The commercial court said in a statement that it had declared the demands of ESFG and Rio Forte admissible. ESFG is Banco Espirito Santo's largest shareholder, with a stake of about 20 percent, and is controlled by the bank's founding family, the Espirito Santos.

Espírito Santo International SA's main unit, Rioforte Investments, is preparing to file for creditor protection in Luxembourg because of mounting pressure to repay debt with funds it doesn't have, The Wall Street Journal reported. In the latest sign of stress, Rioforte is unlikely to repay €897 million ($1.22 billion) in debt held by Portuguese telecom giant Portugal Telecom SGPS SA, according to a person familiar with the situation. The deadline for the majority of the debt is by midnight Tuesday.

ArcelorMittal is looking into making an offer for Italy’s second biggest steel producer Lucchini, and a proposal is expected to be made later in July, GantDaily.com reported. Lucchini was placed under “special administration” after it was declared insolvent in 2012. The procedure aimed to save huge companies and avoid heavy job losses. The company, formerly owned by Russia’s Severstal, was badly hit by the 2008 recession that has reduced Europe’s steel demand by around 25 percent.

European Union antitrust authorities ordered Luxembourg on Monday to hand over information on its tax practices as part of a broader investigation into fiscal deals that allow some major global corporations to pay little or no tax in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported. The European Commission, which acts as the 28-member bloc's top antitrust regulator, is scrutinizing whether tax arrangements for companies like Apple Inc. and Starbucks Corp. violate EU state-aid rules, which forbid tax breaks or subsidies that provide a competitive advantage to favored groups.

When liquidators closed the books on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International case in May, a 21-year-old scandal that shook the global financial system and ensnared arms dealers, dictators and even the CIA appeared to be over. Earlier this month, however, creditors of the failed bank got the go-ahead from a judge in Luxembourg to partially reopen the case and make one last attempt to collect $326 million from Saudi Arabia, The Wall Street Journal Middle East Real Time blog reported.

The risks posed by hosting a large financial industry became a flash point on Wednesday as the Cyprus bailout trained the spotlight on other small euro nations that depend on the sector for jobs and economic growth, The Wall Street Journal reported. The issue has become a sore spot mainly for Luxembourg and Malta after the debate over Cyprus prompted European ministers and politicians to question the viability of housing a large financial center in a small country.

France, Belgium and Luxembourg, which own Dexia, the lender that is being broken up, have agreed to boost state guarantees to the ailing bank by €10bn to €55bn, it was disclosed on Wednesday, the Financial Times reported. The decision followed Monday’s meeting between Pierre Moscovici, France’s new finance minister, and his Belgian counterpart, Steven Vanackere, in Brussels. The European commission “temporarily approved” the €10bn increase in guarantees “in order to preserve financial stability”.

Hellas Telecommunications Luxembourg II SCA filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy to put on hold certain lawsuits pending against the company in New York State Supreme Court, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. The company, based in London, listed both debt and assets of more than $100 million in documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan. Chapter 15 protects foreign companies from U.S. lawsuits and creditor claims while a company reorganizes abroad. Hellas Telecommunications Luxembourg is asking the U.S.

Probes by the U.K. and Icelandic authorities into the failure Iceland's Kaupthing Bank hf have widened to include Luxembourg, The Wall Street Journal reported. Luxembourg police on Tuesday morning raided the premises of Kaupthing's former premises in Luxembourg at the request of British and Icelandic officials, according to authorities. In total, the searches covered three business premises and two residential properties and were continuing as of early afternoon Tuesday. They involved more than 70 investigators from Luxembourg, the UK and Iceland. U.K.