UK banks' subordinated debt has tumbled as the threat of the country leaving the European Union later this month escalates, Reuters reported. Polls of polls on Sunday showed the Leave and Remain camps split down the middle at 50/50, shaking up those that have been counting on the UK staying in the EU. Additional Tier 1 bonds have dropped up to three points in the last week, while Tier 2 debt has also taken a knock.

Sterling dropped to a three-week low versus the dollar yesterday after polls showed that Britons favoured quitting the European Union, the Irish Times reported. That revived concerns that the June 23rd referendum may throw global markets into turmoil and undermine confidence in the EU. Meanwhile, 93 per cent of Irish chief executives believe a British exit from the EU is the top threat for businesses here, according to a survey by PwC.

U.K. regulators are making inquiries into Credit Suisse Group AG’s and Russian bank VTB Group’s handling of hundreds of millions of dollars of debt the banks arranged for the purchase of boats and military equipment for state-backed companies in Mozambique, people familiar with the matter said, The Wall Street Journal reported. Meanwhile, the southern African country has brought in a prominent debt-restructuring specialist to advise on whether it should keep making payments on some related loans, other people familiar with the matter said.

British department stores group BHS is to be wound down after administrators failed to find a buyer for the 88-year-old chain, threatening over 10,000 jobs and creating huge vacant sites in town centres struggling to cope with changing shopping habits, Reuters reported. The failure to find a buyer will likely increase the focus on previous owner, billionaire Philip Green, who sold the chain to a group of little-known investors led by a previous bankrupt called Dominic Chappell for one pound in March 2015.

Just as many Britons feel emotionally apart and even alien from Europe, so they see the European Union as an opaque, bewildering abstraction, a mysterious bureaucratic behemoth that hoovers up their money and independence while giving little (or nothing) in return, the International New York Times reported. British understanding of its workings and purpose has not been helped by the over-the-top arguments being thrown around in the debate over the referendum, set for June 23.

British fashion retailer Austin Reed Ltd will start winding down as no viable offer was received for the company over a five-week sale process, its joint administrators said, Reuters reported. The retailer will shut its 120 stores by the end of June, which will affect about 1,000 jobs, Austin Reed's administrators at AlixPartners Services UK LLP said in a statement on Tuesday. Five of the company's outlets inside Boundary Mills stores will be sold to AR Operations Ltd. The deal includes the transfer of 28 employees to AR Operations.

Signs of faltering demand in the housing market are prompting estate agents and analysts to suggest England’s house price boom may be ending, the Financial Times reported.

Debenhams, the British retail chain with 11 outlets in Ireland employing 2,200 staff, has become embroiled in a row with the Roche family that once owned Roches Stores, the Irish Times reported. Debenhams bought Roches Stores from the Roche family for €29 million in 2006 and rebranded it, although the family held on to the properties. Details of the row have emerged in documents given to the High Court as part of Debenhams’ Irish division’s application for examinership, a form of court protection while it restructures its finances.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s campaign to keep Britain in the European Union was bolstered on Wednesday by a report from one of the country’s most authoritative economic research bodies, which concluded that a withdrawal from the bloc would lead to up to two more years of public spending cuts or tax increases, the International New York Times reported. A frequent critic of government economic plans, the research body, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, this time delivered some welcome news for Mr. Cameron.

A former managing director of Mothercare and Burton is leading a bid for BHS backed by a wealthy Portuguese family, which has emerged as the frontrunner to rescue the department store chain. Greg Tufnell, the brother of former England cricketer Phil Tufnell, has been holding talks with administrators, The Guardian reported. It is understood that Tufnell aims to become BHS chairman. He is working alongside Nick de Scossa, a Swiss banker, and José Maria Soares Bento, thought to working with a wealthy family in Portugal.