London-based Nithia Capital Resources Advisors LLP is seeking to acquire troubled Singapore commodity trader Agritrade International Pte Ltd (AIPL) and its shares in its Hong Kong-listed subsidiary, according to a source familiar with the matter, Reuters reported. AIPL, whose businesses span palm oil and coal, is undergoing a court-appointed restructuring after it collapsed earlier this year amid fraud allegations. It owes $1.55 billion, including $983 billion to at least 20 banks.

Company insolvencies are forecast to rise sharply in the UK over the coming months as government support measures are unravelled, the Financial Times reported. Begbies Traynor, the insolvency specialist, warned businesses were facing the “double whammy” of accruing liabilities and the withdrawal of state support schemes. “I expect we’ll see numbers of insolvencies in excess of what we saw in 2008,” said group executive chairman Ric Traynor, comparing the recession caused by the pandemic with the financial crash.

Amigo Loans warned on Monday that there was “material uncertainty” over its ability to continue operating, as the UK subprime lender grapples with rising customer complaints, a regulatory investigation and the coronavirus crisis, the Financial Times reported. The company said it was confident it had “adequate liquidity” but cautioned that additional financing would be needed if customer complaints were higher than expected for a prolonged period, or if the Financial Conduct Authority forced the group to carry out a major remediation exercise.

Restaurant chains Ask and Zizzi have been sold in a £70m prepack administration deal that means another 1,200 job losses in the UK’s already struggling casual dining sector, the Financial Times reported. The sale of Azzurri to TowerBrook Capital Partners, announced late on Friday, comes as the pandemic adds to the pain for a sector already under pressure from hefty debts and intense competition after a decade of rapid, private equity-backed expansion.

The problem is both extensive and urgent. Within months, the UK government will start dismantling the schemes it put in place to help small businesses through the Covid-19 lockdown, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. The loss of all those cheques for furloughed employees is bad enough, let alone the end of tax deferrals. But there is worse to come next spring, when the state starts demanding the repayment of the loans it has guaranteed (£46bn now and rising), which more than 2m smaller businesses are expected by then to have taken out to help eke out their cash flows.

More than 200 of Britain’s top financial experts have joined forces to design initiatives to help small businesses restructure and repay as much as 35 billion pounds in “unsustainable” COVID-19 relief debt, Reuters reported. TheCityUK Recapitalisation Group on Thursday proposed the launch of a UK Recovery Corporation (UKRC) to oversee a massive pile of government-guaranteed loans issued since lockdown, offering more manageable terms to borrowers and preventing a wave of bankruptcies borne by the taxpayer. “COVID-19 is a 100-year storm which has caused untold economic damage.

PizzaExpress is heading for a takeover by its lenders as early as this month in a debt-for-equity swap with Chinese owner Hony Capital that is also likely to involve closing some of its high street restaurants hard hit in the pandemic, the Financial Times reported. Investors in the £465m of senior secured bonds that back the company are in advanced talks over a restructuring deal, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

Coronavirus and the end-2020 Brexit deadline have left UK firms facing historic uncertainties, prompting many to find more flexible ways to protect their foreign exchange exposure — even if these come at a higher initial cost, Reuters reported. The pandemic is expected to cause Britain’s biggest economic contraction in 300 years and swell unemployment, debt and corporate bankruptcies. An added risk is that Britain could cast off from the European Union next year without having agreed any trade deals.

Tax increases of £60bn or a return to austerity will be needed to restore the UK’s public finances to stability after coronavirus, the fiscal watchdog said on Tuesday, predicting government borrowing will reach £370bn this year, the Financial Times reported. Describing the long-term public finances as “clearly . . . on an unsustainable path”, the Office for Budget Responsibility said that a combination of borrowing to address the consequences of Covid-19 and the government’s decision to limit immigration after Brexit would increase the necessity for tax increases.

The British financial regulator’s move to temporarily close German fintech Wirecard’s UK business last month left some of the country’s most vulnerable people unable to buy food or access basic services for several days, the Financial Times reported. The Financial Conduct Authority forced Wirecard Card Solutions to halt all regulated activity after its German parent company collapsed into insolvency, before lifting the restrictions the following week.