Brussels’ attacks on corporate tax deals risks undermining business certainty in Europe, according to one of the states accused of handing out illegal tax benefits, the Financial Times reported. Pierre Gramegna, finance minister of Luxembourg, said the European Commission’s decision to use the state aid rules to challenge corporate tax agreements “raises so many issues about predictability and certainty”.

A Galway-based company is being sued by a Luxembourg investor over the alleged effective cancellation of a €2 million loan note when it was converted into shares before the firm was sold off, the Irish Times reported. In Commercial Court proceedings, it is claimed Éire Composites, which designs and manufactures lightweight high-performance materials for the aerospace, marine and motor sectors, was bought by businessman Thomas Flanagan last November despite objections by Carlo Tassara Assets Management Ltd (CTAM), with registered offices in Luxembourg.

A Luxembourg court on Wednesday confirmed that a holding company of Portugal's Espirito Santo family could not receive bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported. Rioforte Investments, whose assets include many of the family's holdings in real estate, hotels and plantations, had appealed against an earlier decision by a Luxembourg court to not award it protection from creditors. This appeal was struck down by judges on Wednesday, a spokesman for the court said in an emailed statement, without elaborating.

Leyne, Strauss-Kahn & Partners, the financial-services firm that was headed by former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and late financier Thierry Leyne, said on Wednesday that it is insolvent, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Luxembourg-based firm said in a short statement that, after the “tragic death” of Mr.

The list of multinational businesses accused of using European jurisdictions to cut their tax bills grew much longer on Wednesday when a group of investigative reporters published findings accusing more than 300 companies, including PepsiCo, Ikea and FedEx, of benefiting from preferential deals with the government of Luxembourg. The findings, by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, are based on a trove of leaked documents that included 548 so-called comfort letters that the group said Luxembourg had provided to corporations seeking favorable tax treatment.

The Espírito Santo Financial Group, which at one point held about 25 percent of the bailed-out Portuguese lender Banco Espírito Santo, said on Thursday that it would file for bankruptcy after it was denied creditor protection by a Luxembourg court last week, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Espírito Santo Financial is part of a complex web of companies controlled by the Espírito Santo family.

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.