Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Theresa May the whole world wants to avoid a no-deal Brexit even as she faces likely defeat when Parliament votes on her plan next week, Bloomberg News reported. Following a day of meetings between the two leaders in London Thursday, Abe publicly backed May’s agreement and offered her his “deepest respect” for the work she has done in securing an agreement with the European Union. “We truly hope that a no-deal Brexit will be avoided and in fact, that is the whole wish of the whole world,” Abe said at a press conference in Downing Street.

Staff at struggling dockless bike-sharing start-up Ofo’s international subsidiaries are “prepared for bankruptcy or acquisition” after the company shut its overseas department, the Financial Times reported. A person familiar with the company said that Beijing-headquartered Ofo’s international arm, which managed the global subsidiaries, had closed this week but employees abroad still had their jobs. The division’s closure was first reported by local Chinese media.

Struggling children's goods retailer Mothercare has continued to suffer from declining sales, with no reversal in its fortunes over the crucial Christmas trading period. Sales at its UK stores that have been open for more than a year fell by 11.4 per cent in the 13 weeks to January, compared to the same period a year before, the Financial Times reported. Online sales dropped by 16.3 per cent as fewer people visited its website and its toy range was smaller than a year ago.

Big Four firm Deloitte has reaped the benefits of Comet’s downfall for the last six years, making a total of £15m in fees, Accountancy Age reported. This is despite the investigation into Deloitte’s conduct which may end in disciplinary action. According to The Times, the professional services business has made millions over the six years that it has been dealing with Comet’s liquidation, which occurred in 2012. It charged £10.2m to be administrator and £5m to be liquidator.

Efforts to boost take up for examinerships appear to have failed, with insolvent Irish firms shying away from the process despite the chance it offers them to continue trading, Independent.ie reported. Just 3pc of insolvencies were examinerships in 2018, the same figure as in 2017, according to figures compiled by Deloitte. Deloitte said the level of examinerships was unexpectedly low. Examinership gives an insolvent firm a 100-day grace period from its creditors, within which time it can seek to come up with a scheme for survival.

The engineering arm of Monarch Airlines, the holiday carrier that collapsed in 2017, has been put into administration with the immediate loss of 408 jobs, the Financial Times reported. Administrators KPMG were called in after Monarch Aircraft Engineering, the last remnant of Monarch Airlines and which provides aircraft maintenance services and has a training academy, ran into financial difficulties and failed to find a buyer. The engineering business had been bought by Greybull Capital, the private equity group, after the collapse of Monarch.

Ireland is likely to issue an increasing number of authorisations for financial groups seeking to move operations to Dublin from London ahead of Britain’s March 29 departure from the EU, as worries grow about a no-deal Brexit, the Financial Times reported. Dublin wants to become a hub for previously UK-based institutions to service EU clients and the shift by financial services companies has been accompanied by similar moves by groups in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and the law.

Uncertainty is hanging over the investments of 14,000 customers who put their money into a UK company promising 8 per cent returns after the financial regulator banned it from paying out any interest over concerns about its marketing, the Financial Times reported. London Capital and Finance, which claimed as much as £214m was invested in its individual savings accounts, or ISAs, has been barred from touching any money in its bank accounts after the Financial Conduct Authority launched an investigation.

Uncertainty will hobble UK business investment and depress consumer spending in 2019, stunting long-term growth even if Britain manages to avoid a disorderly Brexit, according to a poll of more than 80 leading economists, the Financial Times reported. The best the UK can expect over the year is uninspiring growth remaining at its current level of about 1.5 per cent, even if the economy eventually enjoys a modest rebound on the back of a deal with the EU, the FT’s annual survey on the UK’s economic outlook suggests.

The U.K.’s top law-enforcement body is examining allegations that an employee leaked information to a suspect in exchange for money, undermining a probe into a suspected network of European insider traders, the Wall Street Journal reported. The internal corruption unit of the National Crime Agency, the U.K.’s equivalent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is assessing whether a government translator who had access to wiretap recordings tipped off the target of an insider-trading investigation.