Vijay Mallya, wanted in India to face trial on fraud and money laundering charges, has discontinued an application to annul a UK bankruptcy order ahead of a planned hearing in London on Monday, IndiaToday.com reported. It means the "Trustee in Bankruptcy" can continue to pursue assets to help a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) realise the repayment of an estimated judgment debt of around 1.05 billion pounds owed by the 69-year-old's now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

A union representing workers at the Lindsey oil refinery has expressed “grave concerns” about efforts to preserve jobs and production at the site, The Independent reported. Unite said that it had been contacted by several bidders for the refinery in North Lincolnshire who want to protect jobs and ensure that the refinery continues to function, complaining they were not being allowed to lay out their proposals.

Birmingham City Council said that it was “progressing at pace” in tackling its equal pay problems amid the risk of “instability and potential insolvency,” Birmingham Live reported. The Labour-run authority is trying to recover from a financial crisis which saw it declare itself effectively bankrupt in September 2023. It triggered an unprecedented wave of cuts to services and ‘savings’ alongside hikes in council tax.

A watershed moment for U.K. insolvency practices came in a recent ruling in the long-running Core VCT claim that is set to reshape engagement practices and risk management, according a commentary in The Times. Sitting in the High Court, Mr Justice Thompsell ruled that liquidators cannot contractually limit their liability as statutory officeholders. The case involves claims brought by three venture capital trusts and allegations that assets were transferred out of the funds at undervalue and in circumstances of conflict involving the investment manager.

Global financial markets could tumble if investors' mood sours on the prospects for artificial intelligence or the independence of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the Bank of England warned on Wednesday, Reuters reported. The BoE said that share price valuations on U.S. stock markets were similar to those seen near the peak of the dotcom bubble on some measures and noted that U.S. government bonds were vulnerable to any weakening in the Fed's credibility.

The European Union proposed Tuesday cutting free-trade quotas by 47% on steel and steel products, effectively adding large tariffs on imports from countries like China, India, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, which said the measures would wreck the British steel industry, the Associated Press reported. After importing 18.3 million tons, the new quota, additional imports will face up to 50% in new tariffs, a high price akin to U.S. President Donald Trump's steel measures. Neighboring nations like Norway, Iceland and Ukraine will be exempt.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has joined with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to address concerns about misleading advertising and inadequate disclosure by some claims management companies (CMCs) and law firms involved in motor finance claims, MotorFinanceOnline.com reported. The joint initiative also focuses on the potential for clients to be charged excessive fees.

Until recently, a cargo ship called Blade Runner Two would frequently carry 279-foot-long wind turbine blades from a factory on the Isle of Wight to the nearby English mainland. The island, about a mile off Britain’s south coast, cannot be reached by rail or road, but the voyage of the huge blades showed that the Isle of Wight’s isolation had not stopped it from contributing to the country’s economy, the New York Times reported. In recent months, though, Blade Runner Two has made few voyages.