Earlier this week Travelex’s shares were suspended after the company reported that it could not account for $100m (£81m) worth of undisclosed cheques, which is now being investgated by forensic accountants from Kroll, Accountancy Daily reported. Travelex has been attempting to reassure shareholders that it is a distinct subsidiary of Finablr and that the business is capable of operating as a stand-alone operation. PwC has been called into support and strengthen the finance team, with a particular focus on company liquidity.

Fashion chain Laura Ashley has filed for administration, putting up to 2,700 jobs at risk, after rescue talks were halted by the coronavirus outbreak, The Irish Times reported. The troubled retailer, which has five outlets in the Republic, had been in talks with stakeholders over refinancing, but it said its “revised cash flow forecasts and increased uncertainty” mean it will not be able to secure these funds in sufficient time. Its largest shareholder Mui Asia said it was unable to support the retailer with “financial support in the required timeframe”.

Airbus announced plans to halt operations at its plants in France and Spain for four days as the coronavirus crisis spread from battered airlines to the manufacturing sector, The Irish Times reported. The most serious across-the-board disruption in Airbus production since a strike at then British partner BAE Systems in 1989 pushed its shares down 7 per cent as a rebound in other European shares quickly faltered.

British chancellor Rishi Sunak on Tuesday announced state loan guarantees worth £330 billion (€363 billion) along with a further £20 billion of financial handouts to help struggling businesses cope with the economic catastrophe caused by the rapid spread of coronavirus in the UK, The Irish Times reported. The UK chancellor said the rescue package – which comes on top of £7 billion in financial support for businesses announced in last week’s budget – included a one-year break from business rates as well as government grants of up to £25,000 for struggling retailers and pubs.

Debenhams, the British department store group that went through two insolvency processes last year, has asked landlords for an immediate five-month rent holiday because of the likely impact of coronavirus on trading, the Financial Times reported.

This week’s Budget offered help for Britain’s small and medium-sized enterprises — businesses with fewer than 250 employees — that could struggle as the coronavirus pandemic worsens, the Financial Times reported. Staff sickness is expected to rise just as customer numbers fall when those exposed to the virus follow the official advice and isolate themselves. Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, focused on five measures to preserve cash and prevent insolvency among UK businesses.

UK’s Countrywide said on Wednesday a deal to sell its commercial real estate consultancy business has been delayed, sending the debt-laden company’s shares lower, Reuters reported. The sale of Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), which was agreed with Monaco-based entrepreneur John Bengt Moeller in November, would have fetched the British real estate agent 38 million pounds. Countrywide said Moeller had failed to complete the deal by a March 1 deadline, adding that it was looking at legal options to claim costs from him for the delay and for the damages caused.

Rishi Sunak balanced a warning of severe disruption to the UK economy from the spiralling coronavirus epidemic with a multibillion pound package of emergency measures aimed at keeping the UK’s 6m small and medium-sized businesses afloat, the Financial Times reported. A £1bn government-backed emergency loan scheme, reimbursement of sick pay costs, suspension of business rates for retail and leisure outlets, and a £3,000 cash grant to the smallest of businesses were among the temporary initiatives introduced by the new chancellor to address strains that companies across the coun

The move by banks to force Cineworld's top shareholder to refinance a loan without equity collateral is yet another sign of mounting stress in Europe's junk debt market as the coronavirus roils markets and businesses around the world, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

Even as Ashmore Group Plc’s bond funds endured blow after blow in the past year from risky bets that came undone, its stock price soared to a record -- until now. In the past three days, the London-based money manager’s shares plunged 16%, heading for the biggest slide in more than a decade, Bloomberg News reported. The tumble reflects a crash in oil prices that rattled risky assets already on edge over the spreading coronavirus. The $5.3 billion Ashmore Emerging Markets Short Duration Fund offers a study in what went wrong.