Debt Awareness Week, organised by StepChange to raise awareness of the support available for those in debt, runs this month, from 24 – 30 March.

In this month’s edition of MoneyHelper’s monthly financial guidance column, Paul Fox, Regional Manager for the South-West at the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), talks about debt and how you can get free support.

1.What is problem debt?

Debt can happen in lots of different ways; you might borrow money on a credit card or loan and then find you struggle to keep up with the agreed repayments.

Or you may not have enough money to cover council tax or energy bills and start getting letters and calls asking you to repay the money you owe.

If something like this is…

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has called for reforms in international financial institutions to better address the debt crisis in emerging economies like Pakistan.

Speaking at a high-level session at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2025 in China, the finance minister stressed the need for debt relief and financial justice through restructuring sovereign debt mechanisms to prevent cyclical debt crises.

He said debt crises are impeding the economic growth of many emerging economies, including Pakistan, read a statement released by the Finance Division on Wednesday.

Noting that the global debt has soared past $100 trillion, with over 60% of low-income countries at risk of debt distress, Aurangzeb called for reforms in…

Credit card debt can feel like an inescapable issue, as making the minimum payments each month tends to have minimal impact on a balance — in large part because of compounding interest. For many cardholders, growing credit card debt has become a constant reality, as evidenced by credit card debt reaching a record high of $1.21 trillion late last year. Serious credit card payment delinquencies (accounts with payments that are…

As Hudson’s Bay continues to work through liquidation and restructuring plans in an Ontario court, documents have revealed that the department store plans to pay up to $3 million in retention bonuses to some managers and executives.

In court documents filed earlier this month, the retailer asked that nearly $3 million be set aside for “key employees” so Hudson’s Bay can “retain their services” through the liquidation process.

The company said that the employees were selected because their “continued service will be critical to the success of any wind-down or restructuring.”

The court documents said there are a total of 121 key employees across the companies over 9,300 employees who will receive the payments. Approximately…

An estate agent faked a wedding abroad to con family and friends out of thousands of pounds so she could pay off online bingo debts.

Charlotte Blackwell, 31, dreamt up the scam after getting engaged to boyfriend Daniel Thomas following a five-year fling.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that she forged flight and hotel bookings to persuade friends and relatives, including her future mother-in-law, to hand over more than £12,600 for the bogus nuptials overseas.

But she was caught when pal Helen Morse spotted spelling mistakes in travel documents and contacted travel agent TUI directly herself.

TUI confirmed they were fraudulent and police were called.

Blackwell was arrested and immediately confessed, telling officers: ‘I’m sorry, it was to pay off…

Hudson’s Bay Co. was in court again on Wednesday, seeking approval for an agreement with its senior lenders that would place a time limit on saving six stores that have been left out of liquidation for now.

The agreement would mean that the locations would also begin liquidation, if no prospect of a deal that could repay the senior lenders was in place by April 7. Landlords for Hudson’s Bay have opposed the deal.

The lenders – Bank of America N.A., Pathlight Capital LP and Restore Capital LLC – told Hudson’s…

Hudson’s Bay asked an Ontario court Wednesday to approve a restructuring agreement that will give it a few extra days timeline to save the six stores it has so far spared from liquidation.

A new version of the agreement will force the retailer to start liquidating those stores on April 8 — if it hasn’t found a likely transaction by then to repay some of what it owes its senior secured lenders, Bank of America, Pathlight Capital and Restore Capital — just three days after the deadline it originally asked for.

Ashley Taylor, a lawyer for Hudson’s Bay, told Ontario Superior Court Judge Peter Osborne the agreement wasn’t “a very satisfying outcome.”

It wasn’t exactly what the department store wanted either, he reasoned, but was the…

The UK Supreme Court’s recent decision in El-Husseini and another v Invest Bank PSC [2025] UKSC 4 has clarified the circumstances in which section 423 of the Insolvency Act 1986 (the Act) provides protection against attempts by debtors to “defeat their creditors and make themselves judgment-proof”. This is a critical decision for insolvency practitioners, any corporate or fund which is involved in distressed deals and beyond to acquirers who were not aware they were dealing in distressed assets. It is potentially good news for the former, improving or fine-tuning weapons deployed for the benefit of creditors. It is potentially awkward news for the latter, who may have to look rather more broadly at insolvency issues when…

Nikola has filed a number of customary “first day” motions with the Court to ensure its limited operations are able to continue, including authorization to meet its obligations to…

TEMPO.CO, Solo – A total of 10,665 workers of the textile giant Sritex have been terminated, per January to February 26, 2025, as court declared the company bankrupt. The workers came from four companies under the Sritex Group: PT Sritex Sukoharjo, PT Bitratex Semarang, PT Sinar Panja Jaya Semarang, and PT Primayuda Boyolali.

Slamet Kaswanto, the coordinator of the Sritex Group Workers’ Union, confirmed the number. “Yes, that’s roughly the latest number,” said Slamet in a brief message sent to Tempo on Friday, February 28, 2025.

When asked further about the mass layoff faced by the workers, Slamet merely said he’s still attending a creditors’ meeting at the Semarang District Court.

A similar statement was made by Sritex…