A new insolvency law fast tracked by the UK government as a response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on businesses has prompted confusion and disappointment among restructuring advisers, Reuters reported. The main gripe among advisers centres around the new rules governing declaring a debt moratorium - essentially a repayment holiday - which they say are unworkable for larger companies holding more complex debt structures that include high-yield bonds and bank debt. “The moratorium is an opportunity missed.

EasyJet will not fly to Italy if Rome prolongs social distancing rules on planes beyond June 15, the budget airline’s chief executive said in a newspaper interview, Reuters reported. “It would be impossible for companies to operate with only a third of the seats sold,” Lundgren was quoted as saying by Corriere della Sera on Thursday.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has warned it is facing insolvency due to the coronavirus pandemic, Edinburgh Live reported. The stark warning was made by the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, which organises the August event and has so far made four staff members redundant, with 70% furloughed and all workers having their pay cut by a fifth. In a submission to Westminster's Culture, Media and Sport committee, the charity, which effectively facilitates the open-access festival, says it faces a shortfall of £1.5 million.

The owner of Shearings, the coach holidays provider, has crashed into administration, resulting in the immediate loss of 2,500 jobs and thousands of customers' holidays being cancelled, Sky News reported. EY, the administrator to Specialist Leisure Group (SLG), confirmed late on Friday afternoon that it had made more than 2,000 staff redundant who had previously been furloughed under the government's job retention scheme. The news adds to the fast-growing toll of job losses across the economy as the coronavirus crisis continues to wreak havoc with industries such as leisure and tr

UK banks have hit out at the prospect of negative interest rates, saying the policy would slash their earnings and limit their ability to absorb an expected torrent of coronavirus-related loan losses, the Financial Times reported. With big British lenders on track to boost reserves to £18.5bn for bad debts in 2020, the Bank of England’s admission this week that it was eyeing negative rates for the first time in its 324-year history has caused deep concern in the sector.

The U.K. government has introduced new insolvency legislation to help businesses that are struggling from the economic impacts of coronavirus, Bloomberg News reported. The new Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill will create more opportunities to save companies in difficulty and offer better protection from creditors during the pandemic, according to a statement Wednesday. Under the bill, U.K. companies will have access to new tools to restructure their debt in order to keep operating through the crisis.

Casual Dining Group, a KKR-owned company that runs continental-themed mass market restaurants brands in the U.K., is weighing cutting costs with its landlords and filing for administration, according to a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported. The owner of Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia, and employer to 6,000 people, said on Monday it hired advisers AlixPartners and law firm Kirkland & Ellis as it mulls alternatives to address liabilities that were last reported at near $300 million one year ago.

Boris Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator accused the European Union of offering the U.K. only a “low-quality” trade deal as talks between the two sides descended into acrimony, Bloomberg News reported. In a dramatic intervention in the increasingly fractious negotiations over the future U.K.-EU relationship, David Frost complained the bloc is treating Britain as “unworthy” of a fair deal. He told his EU counterpart Michel Barnier to “think again.” The EU is demanding that the U.K.

British luggage brand Antler has collapsed into administration, becoming the latest victim of the coronavirus crisis and its devastating impact on international travel, Reuters reported. Restructuring firm KPMG said on Tuesday it had been appointed administrator to the 106-year old brand, which operates 18 retail stores and one concession outlet. It also sells via its own website, through Amazon and wholesales to several large retail chains across the United Kingdom. It also has third party licence deals in Australia and Asia.

Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd.’s ability to avoid collapse could come down to about a dozen potential investors who tuned into a video presentation on the airline’s coronavirus survival plan this week, Bloomberg News reported. Chief Executive Officer Shai Weiss pitched the firms in a simultaneous online link-up, according to a person familiar with the matter.