United Kingdom

New laws on bankruptcy enacted last week have done little to deter bankruptcy tourism, the Independent reported. Under the old law, bankrupts in Ireland were subjected to at least 12 years of punitive restrictions, and possibly for life and even in death. A bankrupt remained a bankrupt unless discharged by the court. That could only happen if at least a portion of the debt was repaid, along with any costs that may have arisen.

UK holidays firm Holidays4u, which specialises in budget holidays and flights to Turkey, has gone into administration during the peak summer holiday season, leaving around 12,000 passengers to be repatriated by the UK airline authority, Reuters reported. The websites of Holidays4u and related Augeanflights on Wednesday said only that joint administrators had been appointed and that more information would follow.

Ever since it embarked on its ambitious austerity program in June 2010, the U.K. has been regarded as a canary in the economic coal mine. Recent data suggest that if the canary isn't exactly dead, it's certainly ailing, The Wall Street Journal Agenda blog reported. But there are some aspects of the challenge facing the U.K. that are very particular to its situation and disqualify it as a good test of austerity in general.

The International Monetary Fund's UK expert has said the government should be ready to cut taxes and boost the supply of money if Britain's flagging economy suffers a prolonged period of weak growth, high unemployment and low inflation, The Guardian reported. On the day that the monthly health check of manufacturing showed the sector sinking back into recession for the first time in two years, Ajai Chopra warned that ministers would need to be nimble if the economy performed less well than the IMF has been anticipating.

Britain's Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed an appeal by units of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Bank of New York Mellon, a win for investors in a high-stakes legal dispute involving complex derivatives transactions that has divided courts on both sides of the Atlantic, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The U.K.'s Supreme Court, the nation's highest, unanimously ruled in favor of investors represented by Australia's Belmont Park Investments PTY Ltd.

Britain's recovery appears to have slowed recently and there is a risk the economy could tip back into recession, Bank of England policymaker David Miles said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. In a speech focussed on the impact of tighter bank regulation, Miles challenged the conventional notion that higher capital requirements would necessarily stifle growth, and he argued that the cost of deleveraging was much smaller than some have feared.

The number of British retailers falling into administration rose 8 percent in the second quarter on a year ago and will continue climbing as consumers are squeezed by rising prices and government cut backs, consultants Deloitte said, Reuters reported. Some 43 retailers, including wine chain Oddbins, home improvements group Focus DIY and fashion chain Jane Norman, entered administration -- a form of protection from creditors -- in the March-June quarter, Deloitte said on Monday.

Halliwells' administrators have launched a claim in the High Court against a group of former partners in a bid to reclaim more than £21m gained through a controversial 'reverse premium' property payout, LegalWeek.com reported. BDO launched the claim against Halliwells' former chairman Ian Austin and 31 other ex-partners in the Chancery Division of the High Court earlier this month (4 July). Addleshaw Goddard is advising BDO on the £21.13m claim, with litigation firm Peters & Peters acting for 30 of the 32 defendants.

Tokio Marine Europe Insurance Ltd, a part of the Tokio Marine Group, said it filed a petition for protection from creditors under Chapter 15 in U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan, London South East reported on a Reuters story. The company, which underwrites commercial property, casualty and marine insurance, in a court filing on Monday listed assets of more than $100 million and liabilities of more than $100 million.

The public sector pensions liabilities stood at 1.1 trillion pounds ($1.763 trillion) in 2009/10, the government will say on Wednesday, a Treasury source told Reuters. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government is seeking to push through reforms of public sector pensions to make them more affordable as part of an austerity plan to eliminate a record budget deficit.