Switzerland-based refiner Petroplus Holdings AG plans to file for insolvency, after talks with its lenders failed to unblock credit lines and the company succumbed to the weak profit margins that have dogged the sector in Europe during the past year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Bank of England stands ready to engage in further stimulus and extend support to lenders facing funding shortages in order to shepherd the U.K. economy through a new global slowdown, BOE Governor Mervyn King said Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mr. King told an audience in Brighton, England, that the U.K. faces an "arduous, long and uneven" recovery in the years ahead as it attempts to work off its debts and rebalance its economy away from debt-fueled spending towards exports and investment. This will not be an easy year, Mr. King said.

There are two basic models for a successful financial center. One is to be the onshore center for a large domestic market, as New York is for the U.S. The alternative is to be an offshore haven, touting for business around the world by offering favors such as regulatory arbitrage, tax advantages or, in Switzerland's case, secrecy, The Wall Street Journal Agenda blog reported. Over the years, London's model has evolved. In the 19th century, it was the onshore center for the British Empire.

The British arm of children's clothing retailer Pumpkin Patch has appointed administrators, the latest in a string of store groups to run into trouble as cash-strapped shoppers cut back spending, Reuters reported. Business advisory firm Deloitte said on Thursday it had been appointed to oversee the administration, a form of protection from creditors. It has closed five stores, making 60 staff redundant, but hopes to continue trading others while strategic options are explored. Pumpkin Patch Ltd, based in Reading, southern England, has 36 UK stores, employing about 400 staff.

Britain's bankers should not pay themselves big bonuses at a time of poor share price performance, more-or-less explicit tax-payer subsidy and falling living standards for most other workers, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. As banks gear up for their annual round of bonus payments, King said they should put the money aside to bolster against future financial market shocks.

British retailer Past Times said it had appointed administrators, as the seller of nostalgia-themed gifts joined fashion shop Peacocks in becoming the latest victims of difficult trading conditions on the high street. Administrators KPMG said on Monday, Past Times, which trades from 51 remaining stores after the recent closure of 46 shops, would be wound down if a sale could not be concluded. The group had been granted a stay-of-execution for last-minute talks with a potential rescuer, a source told Reuters on Tuesday.

Britain will encourage greater worker ownership in companies to counter the "crony capitalism" that contributed to the 2007/8 financial crisis and tipped the country into recession, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on Monday, Reuters reported. An "unrestrained economic elite" driven by short-termism and recklessness had brought the economy to the edge and had to be restrained by a more responsible capitalism, Clegg said in extracts of a speech released in advance by his office.

Distressed debt investors are circling General Healthcare Group, in expectation that the UK’s largest private hospital operator by revenue will be forced to restructure its heavily indebted financial set-up, the Financial Times reported. GHG operates 70 hospitals and treatment centres across the country and employs 15,000 people. But the company was straddled with £1.9bn of gross debt in the 2006 acquisition by Netcare, the South African healthcare group; Apax Partners, the private equity investor; and two property investors.

ICE Futures Europe has suspended the membership of London-based emissions brokers CarbonDesk Limited until further notice, the exchange said, after the firm said it could no longer pay creditors and named administrators. Last November CarbonDesk Group PLC said in a statement that its subsidiary had entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) as it no longer had enough cash to pay its debts, and it named administrators to take over management. A CVA enables a company to reach an agreement with its creditors on the repayment of outstanding debts over a period of time.

Britain's economy is at risk of contracting in the first half of this year after stagnating in the final quarter of 2011 due to the euro zone debt crisis, a survey from the British Chambers of Commerce showed on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The BCC - which polled nearly 8,000 members - stopped short of forecasting an outright recession, saying only that one quarter of negative growth was likely over the next six months, but warned this hinged on government action to help business. "A new recession is not a foregone conclusion.