Councils have warned that neighbourhood services will have to be cut despite a Government bailout, with fears that more authorities will go bust over the coming years, PA Media reported. If further funding is not made available in the Budget on March 6, communities will face the consequences of a worsening financial crisis across local government, the Local Government Association (LGA) said. An LGA survey of council chief executives found 85% of local authorities continue to plan reductions in spending on key services after the Government made an extra £600 million available for 2024/25.

The Bank of England may sell all the U.K. government bonds bought under quantitative easing to better prepare for a future crisis, a move that would put it at odds with the U.S. Federal Reserve, Bloomberg News reported.

Newcastle United co-owner Amanda Staveley will ask the High Court to block a billionaire from bankrupting her on Wednesday, the Daily Telegraph reported. Staveley has been plunged into a multi-million pound legal battle with Greek shipping tycoon Victor Restis over claims she failed to repay a loan of more than £35 million dating back more than a decade. Lawyers for Staveley applied to the High Court in June to have a statutory demand issued by Restis “set aside” – a move that would prevent him from presenting her with a bankruptcy order if the debt is not paid within 21 days.

A city council has said it will have to effectively declare bankruptcy if its application for emergency government help is refused, BBC.com reported. Southampton City Council said that it had ended efforts to meet a £39m budget shortfall for 2024-25 on its own.

The U.K.’s competition regulator said it has launched an investigation into whether eight housebuilders have shared commercially sensitive information with their competitors, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Competition and Markets Authority said Monday that it will investigate Barratt Developments, Bellway, Berkeley, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Redrow, Taylor Wimpey and Vistry. So far, the CMA hasn’t reached any conclusions as to whether or not competition law has been infringed, it said Monday.

The pace of a sales decline for British retailers eased in February and a measure of inflation dropped to its weakest in nearly three years, according to industry figures which echoed official data published earlier this month, Reuters reported. The Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) monthly retail sales balance, a gauge of sales versus a year ago, rose to -7 from -50 in January, the slowest fall in 10 months. But retailers expected the decline in sales to pick up slightly in March to -15.

Stakeholders in the UK’s biggest pub operator are gearing up for talks on how to address its more than £2 billion ($2.5 billion) in debt coming due next year, Bloomberg News reported. Stonegate Pub Co., its owner TDR Capital and its senior and junior creditors will discuss how to tackle the upcoming debt maturities. The company and its sponsor have brought in bankers at Evercore Inc and lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis LLP to advise on their options. Stonegate could slash a part of its debt and then address the remainder, creditors say.

A U.S. judge said that Barclays must face part of a proposed class action by shareholders over the British bank's sale of $17.7 billion more debt than regulators had allowed, Reuters reported. U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan said that shareholders adequately alleged that Barclays' failure to disclose the absence of internal controls to catch the error was a material omission of fact.

Argentina must pay a large deposit in a case brought by hedge funds seeking $1.5 billion in compensation for losses in the nation’s growth-linked securities, London’s Court of Appeal ruled, Bloomberg News reported. The South American nation must pay down €310 million ($337 million) before a full appeal is heard. Hedge funds, including Palladian Partners LP, won the case for compensation in a lower court last year. Argentina has until April 5 to deposit the cash in a trustee account, a judge ruled Thursday.

A city council has warned it is being forced into “tough” decisions to avoid following others into effective bankruptcy, BBC.com reported. Although Newcastle City is not at imminent risk of going under, proposals to cut spending by another £15m over the next year have been signed off by the Labour-run authority's cabinet.