United Kingdom

Allen & Overy (A&O) and SJ Berwin have taken lead roles as Icelandic retailer Baugur files for bankruptcy protection, LegalWeek reported. A&O, a longstanding adviser of the company, is fielding a team led by London finance partner Andrew Bamber. SJ Berwin is advising Icelandic bank Landsbanki--which was in talks with Baugur about the potential restructuring of £1 billion of debt--with a team led by London restructuring partner Mike Woollard, corporate partner David Parkes and finance partner Jen Yee Chan.

A spokeswoman for Clifford Chance confirmed a Law.com report that the firm had lost about 20 percent of the lawyers from its Moscow office through layoffs and natural attrition, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. “It's a continuing situation that has been under review for several months now,” spokeswoman Anne Groves said. The news broke just a couple of weeks after the firm announced a redundancy program that could lead to job losses for up to 80 additional attorneys in London.

China has pledged to take all necessary measures to stimulate its economy and fuel consumer spending, but has rejected as “ridiculous” suggestions that its huge pool of domestic savings has been partly to blame for the global financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. In a rare interview, Wen Jiabao, China’s premier, said in London on Sunday that Beijing was considering fresh measures to boost its economy beyond its Rmb4,000 billion ($585 billion, €458 billion, £404 billion) fiscal package launched late last year.

After seeing seven London partners jump ship earlier this month, Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP is reportedly considering legal action against the group for alleged violations of their partnership agreements, Bankruptcy Law360 reported. On Tuesday, London's Legal Week reported that Cadwalader had sent letters before action to the seven, accusing them of breaching the confidential terms of their partnership deed by moving to Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP.

The owner of the Barratts and PriceLess shoe chains in Britain filed for a form of bankruptcy for the two businesses Monday in an attempt to save itself from collapse, the Associated Press reported. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Stylo PLC--the Bradford, England-based parent company--said it had appointed administrators from Deloitte for its shoe chains as it attempted to come to an agreement with creditors to secure its long-term survival.

J Sainsbury is planning to cut more than 5 percent of its London head office staff as part of a restructuring plan in an effort to keep costs down at the supermarket chain, the Financial Times reported. Justin King, chief executive, told staff on Wednesday that he would be cutting more than 200 jobs as part of a restructuring of central teams in the business. Sainsbury said it would be moving from five main business units in its trading division to three--non-food, grocery and fresh food--which would make a number of roles redundant.

Vehicle production in the United Kingdom slumped by nearly half in December from the same month the year before as the credit crisis continued to hit demand hard, a trade group said Thursday. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, or SMMT, said nearly 48 percent fewer cars were made in December 2008 compared with the previous year. In addition, the group said commercial vehicle production fell about 57 percent in December from the previous year, with full year production down six percent.

Amid the ongoing restructuring processes of Nortel Networks, the Philippine operations will remain safe, Inquirer.net reported. Nortel Asia Communications Director Matthew Wray said operations in the Philippines, as well as their other affiliates across Asia, are working with partners and suppliers to avoid operational disruptions. "Our affiliates across Asia, including the Philippines, are not subject to the creditor protection filings in North America and Europe and are expected to continue to operate as normal," Wray said in an email.

With taxpayers tethered to its fate, Orchestra London moved a step closer yesterday to getting nearly a half-million dollars from city hall, The London Free Press reported. London's board of control unanimously recommended giving the operating grant to the symphony. Effectively, it had no choice: Without it, the orchestra would default on a $500,000 loan council guaranteed last month. The loan guarantee and grant make possible a turnaround by a symphony that had been on pace to run a fourth straight deficit topping $300,000.

British music and entertainment retailer Zavvi will close another 18 stores and cut 353 jobs, the collapsed company's administrators said Wednesday. Administrators at Ernst & Young, appointed to run the company after it filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 24, said they had received many expressions of interest in Zavvi's operations, but did not found a buyer for all the stores, the Associated Press reported. The administrators said they still hope to all or part of the remaining 74 stores. Zavvi's flagship store in central London is one of those earmarked for closure.