Barclays is facing a legal battle over cash held in accounts belonging to a collapsed shadow bank, The Telegraph reported. Administrators for Market Financial Solutions (MFS) have filed a case at the High Court in an attempt to force Barclays to hand over money they believe is owed to the business. AlixPartners, the administrators, were appointed to oversee parts of MFS by some of the shadow bank’s creditors just before it collapsed amid allegations of fraud earlier this year. It is understood that Barclays will be defending the case.

More than 120 MPs and peers have asked the chancellor to carry out an "urgent review" of the student loan repayment system, BBC.com reported. An open letter coordinated by the campaign group Rethink Repayment says the current set-up places an "unsustainable burden on the next generation of workers". Among the cross-party signatories are MPs with their own Plan 2 student loans, which have come under particular scrutiny this year. Last week, Education Secretary Lucy Powell said the interest rate on those loans was "egregious" and the issue was at the top of her in-tray.

Apollo Global Management agreed to buy low-cost carrier EasyJet Plc for £5.7 billion ($7.7 billion), clinching a deal that's likely to shake up the dynamics in Europe's highly competitive market for budget airlines, Bloomberg News reported. The UK-based airline's board agreed to the offer from the US private equity firm valuing each EasyJet share at 715 pence, according to a statement Thursday. Earlier, rival bidder Castlelake LP pulled out of the chase. Read more.

The company that owns iconic Nottingham bike manufacturer Raleigh has begun insolvency proceedings, BBC.com reported. Accell, based in the Netherlands, bought Raleigh for $100m in 2012 but said on Wednesday it had "exhausted all the available options" and was "no longer able to meet its financial obligations". It comes after a difficult period for Raleigh, which saw redundancies in 2024 and losses of £30m in accounts released the following year. Jonas Nilsson, chief executive of Accell, said it was "a deeply sad and frustrating situation".

Zimbabwe has secured diplomatic backing from France and the United Kingdom for its debt resolution programme after the two countries agreed to co-chair a new Debt Consultative Group (DCG) under the country’s Structured Dialogue Platform, a development expected to accelerate engagement with international creditors and support efforts to restore access to concessional finance, The Zimbabwe Financial Mail reported.

Britain's two-year jobs market downturn has lasted as long as the slump seen during the global financial crisis as firms cut costs and turn to artificial intelligence, according to a closely watched survey, Bloomberg News reported. S&P's purchasing managers' index showed services firms and employers across the wider private sector reducing headcount for a 22nd straight month in July. While the pace of job losses eased slightly last month, the length of the downturn in the services sector now matches that seen during the 2008-09 financial crash.

Ryanair is being sued by hundreds of pilots who claim they are owed holiday pay, The Telegraph reported. Richard Phillips, a former Ryanair pilot, has filed a group claim against the low-cost airline along with 261 others. The lawsuit in London's Commercial Court, filed last week, also lists aviation recruitment agencies Storm Global and Brookfield Aviation International and a Dublin-based tax consultancy called Scanlon Associates as defendants.

A year on from the Court of Appeal's Petrofac decision — which many read as a blow to the UK's Part 26A restructuring plan (RP) process — the regime appears to have emerged stronger rather than weakened, according to a PitchBook.com commentary. As practitioners adapt to heightened judicial scrutiny, the English restructuring plan is increasingly being embraced by U.S.-linked debtors seeking an alternative to chapter 11.