Begbies Traynor, the corporate insolvency specialist, expects interim profits to be £700,000 below the £4.3m ($6.8m) reported for the previous first half as fewer-than-expected companies have gone bust, the Financial Times reported. Ric Traynor, executive chairman, said the recession and its aftermath was proving to be different to previous downturns in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, which ended with a material increase in insolvencies. However, he expected more companies to fail in the first half next year.

Stricken British subprime lender Cattles is trying to cement a so far elusive debt deal with its creditors in the next week to avoid administration, sources close to the matter said on Friday, Reuters reported. Cattles will need support from enough bondholders -- who will recover only a small portion of their investment -- to keep afloat, as months of restructuring talks come to a head. Should that fail, the Hull-based firm will likely call in administrators, three sources said, putting about 3,000 jobs at risk.

Irish Nationwide has succeeded in its legal bid to dismiss a lawsuit by two subordinated bondholders in the High Court in London as a judge said he could not stop the Government’s plan to share the €5.4 billion cost of the building society, The Irish Times reported. The bondholders, Satinland Finance and Trimast Holding, had sought to force a unit of French bank BNP Paribas, the trustee of the bonds, to file a winding up petition against Irish Nationwide to force their repayment in full. The investment funds did not have a valid legal claim, Judge George Mann said in his ruling.

A UK court case involving Lehman Brothers and Canadian telecoms firm Nortel could have dramatic consequences for the ranking of creditors in a corporate bankruptcy, Reuters reported. The case, which starts on Wednesday, will look at whether pension funds should rank above other creditors, including the fees paid to the administrators of failed companies. The outcome will be key for the way insolvent companies tackle pension deficits. Lehman's deficit stood at 148 million pounds ($234.9 million) when it filed for bankruptcy, and Nortel's at 2.1 billion pounds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says the transfer of $1.28 billion in disputed cash and securities from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to Barclays PLC as part of the controversial sale of Lehman's brokerage business could violate U.S. securities law, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The SEC said the transfer of assets held in two reserve accounts would violate a consumer-protection rule because it would leave the failed investment bank with insufficient funds to satisfy the claims of customers whose accounts were not transferred to Barclays.

The number of U.K. business insolvencies fell 17 percent in October from a year earlier as companies’ financial positions improved, Experian Plc said, Bloomberg reported. Insolvencies declined to 1,635 from 1,976 in the same month a year ago, Experian said in a report released by e-mail today in Nottingham, England. The proportion of companies that failed slipped to 0.08 percent from 0.1 percent in October 2009. Experian said Britain’s “largest companies” recorded the biggest improvement in the insolvency rate, falling to 0.1 percent from 0.16 percent.

British menswear retailer Suits You is closing down with the loss of about 370 jobs, administrators to parent company Speciality Retail Group Ltd said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Zolfo Cooper said all 66 Suits You shops would close, with 10 shutting before the end of November, but most continuing to trade over Christmas before closing in the new year. "We looked at trading the business in the longer term, however this has not proved to be financially viable," said Fraser Gray, a partner at Zolfo Cooper. Zolfo Cooper were appointed joint administrators to Speciality Retail Group on Oct.

Chemtura Corp. has struck a deal to avoid bankruptcy-court litigation over claims tied to the pension plan covering hundreds of its United Kingdom workers, which faces a funding deficit of more than $150 million, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The maker of specialty chemicals, agrochemicals and consumer products, which emerged from Chapter 11 protection last week, said the deal preserves its right to dispute the pension claims outside of bankruptcy court, which it has sought to do for months.

Iceland's business lobby said on Tuesday it had seen the outline of a draft deal on repaying Britain and the Netherlands and that it was much improved from one rejected by voters in March, Reuters reported. The head of the business lobby spoke after an Icelandic television station reported that a draft deal had been reached which would involve Iceland repaying 40-60 billion Icelandic crowns ($356-533 million) to the British and Dutch.

Insolvent U.K. maintenance and building services group Rok PLC's administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers Tuesday announced a further 1,800 layoffs, in the firm's maintenance and improvements division, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. PwC said its construction and social housing division in England remains unaffected as it continues to pursue a sale of this part of the business.