Bank of England Governor Mark Carney on Wednesday likened the $2 trillion (£1.55 trillion) leveraged loan market to subprime mortgages that defaulted 10 years ago and triggered a global financial crisis, in a warning to MPs, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. Leveraged loans are made to companies that are highly indebted, and growth has been driven by investment funds and collateralised loan obligations (CLOs) linked to the loans. "We are concerned just because the pace of growth has been quite rapid for some time," Carney told the MPs.

A prominent South African fund manager stands to become one of the biggest losers on a batch of New Look’s bonds that were in effect rendered worthless when the UK retailer launched a debt restructuring this week, the Financial Times reported. New Look set out terms of a debt-for-equity swap on Monday that will hand one-fifth of the company to so-called senior secured bondholders — owners of debt linked to specific assets. Meanwhile, holders of £176m of unsecured bonds have been offered just 2 per cent of the equity in the struggling fashion retailer.

Britain’s financial watchdog has dropped a criminal probe into Credit Suisse related to an alleged fraud in Mozambique, but is still checking the bank and individuals for any breaches of conduct rules, the watchdog said on Tuesday. In 2016, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched an investigation into the Swiss bank’s activities in Mozambique, where around $2 billion of loans to state-owned companies pushed the country into a debt crisis, Reuters reported.

Provident Financial, the London-listed subprime lender, shed a fifth of its market value on Tuesday after warning that full-year pre-tax profits would be towards the lower range of expectations because of an increase in bad debt, the Financial Times reported. The subprime lender, which also issued two profit warnings in 2017, reported a rise in impairments and bad debt at its Vanquis credit card division, which accounts for almost 60 per cent of revenues, and tighter underwriting conditions.

The pound declined in Asia trading as investors start to weigh a worst-case Brexit after Prime Minister Theresa May’s bill was roundly defeated by lawmakers. Sterling slipped 0.3 percent to $1.2829, while also dropping against every Group-of-10 peer, with traders saying flows were thin as most investors stayed on the sideline, Bloomberg News reported. While May is expected to survive a vote of no confidence called by the opposition party later Wednesday, uncertainty over how she will pull together a new deal has spurred risk aversion.

New Look Retail Group Ltd. joined a long list of U.K. retailers seeking debt relief as it announced a deal to reduce its 1.35 billion pounds ($1.74 billion) of bonds and loans, Bloomberg News reported. Many more are looking for advice on restructuring their balance sheets. The 50-year-old fashion chain agreed with a group of creditors to forfeit their claims in return for new bonds and majority control of the restructured business, according to a statement on Monday.

Shares in Debenhams, the British department store chain that is fighting for survival, plunged as much as 22 percent on Friday as its new interim chairman began the task of trying to find a consensus among investors on the way forward, Reuters reported. On Thursday, two major Debenhams shareholders - Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct and Middle Eastern investor Landmark Group - forced Chief Executive Sergio Bucher off the board and Chairman Ian Cheshire out of the company following a drop in Christmas sales.

A venture led by Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. scooped up Flybe Group Plc for a penny a share, all but wiping out the value of the British regional carrier hit by dwindling passenger numbers, higher oil prices and uncertainty surrounding Brexit, Bloomberg News reported. Virgin, Cyrus Capital and airport operator Stobart Group Ltd. agreed to purchase Flybe for 2.2 million pounds ($2.8 million), according to a statement Friday.

More than 20 U.K. retail chains instructed accountancy firm Deloitte LLP in the past two months to assess whether they are able to restructure their debt, the Sunday Times reported, without saying where it got the information, Bloomberg News reported. The accountancy firm is considering whether the chains -- mostly fashion and homeware retailers -- can use a so-called company voluntary arrangement to close stores. The process allows businesses to leave behind lease liabilities and keep operating, but puts a financial burden on landlords.

Britain’s Ovo Energy said on Friday it had taken over the customers of independent power supplier Economy Energy, which ceased trading this week. Economy Energy became the ninth supplier to stop trading in the past year, after an attempt to increase competitiveness prompted the launch of dozens of independent traders in Britain, Reuters reported. Ovo said it now had 1.5 million retail customers in Britain after taking over Economy Energy’s 235,000 clients as well as the 290,000 customers of Spark Energy, another small company that stopped operations last year.