A liquidator is investigating an alleged fraud on a wound-up investment firm run by Jeff Leo, a former director of the bust AI firm Altada, the High Court has been told. Wenning Holdings Ltd was put into voluntary liquidation in September 2023 on foot of a declaration of solvency by Leo, an American businessman and director of the firm.  However last September Kieran Wallace of Interpath Advisory replaced the original liquidator John Healy of Kirby Healy Accountants, on foot of a petition by company shareholders James and Mary Wenning. The Wennings, US investors, are allegedly owed millions on the back…

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Conservative opposition leader Robert Alden said: “Labour’s salami slicing has both driven services into the ground and failed to make the necessary savings or transform the council into a modern institution fit for purpose.

“This abject failure has been driven at every instance by the failure of the Labour leadership in Birmingham”.

Leader of Birmingham City Council, Labour’s John Cotton, said there was much more to do to ensure the authority became financially sustainable, but that progress was being made.

“We continue to engage constructively with the new government,” he said.

Mr Cotton added: “It remains clear that the pace of change must further increase, as further savings are identified, and we transform services.

“Our…

Words: Liezl Human / GroundUp

Students at the University of Cape Town (UCT) returned to lectures on campus on Monday after several days of protests over student debt. This comes as an agreement between the UCT council and Student Representative Council (SRC) was reached on Thursday, 20 February.

The first week of lectures had been disrupted by hundreds of students blocking entry and marching on campus. This forced some lectures to move online.

SRC members demanded that management give concessions to financially excluded students who were academically eligible to register but unable to settle their outstanding debt.

In a statement on 21 February, Norman Arendse, chair of the UCT council, said that the university’s historic…

Ares Management – a leading global alternative investment manager – announced that Ares Credit funds served as the administrative agent on $300 million in incremental debt financing for Tempus AI, a technology company leading the adoption of AI to advance precision medicine and patient care.

The financing is expected to support Tempus’ previously announced acquisition of Ambry Genetics, which closed on February 3, 2025. And combined with $260 million of capital provided in 2022 and 2023, And Ares Credit funds have provided Tempus a total debt package of about $560 million.

Launched in 2015, Tempus brings data and AI to healthcare businesses through innovative technology solutions focused on clinical care and…

Debt can impact anyone at anytime and everywhere, a charity leader has said.

Alison Berry, from Christians Against Poverty (CAP) in Windsor, said: “Sadly, the need for free face-to-face personal debt advice has really increased.”

The charity has opened a new debt centre at Kerith Community Church in Dedworth Road to provide support to those who need it.

CAP was founded in 1996 and specialises in debt counselling for people in financial difficulty as well as free advice and practical support.

Ms Berry explained even in affluent areas people were struggling and “debt exists everywhere, nobody is exempt”.

The charity partners with churches all over the UK to provide face-to-face support.

She said: “Hundreds of thousands of adults across…

German eVTOL developer Lilium (Oberpfaffenhofen) announced it filed for insolvency on February 21 after last-ditch funding options to secure its future did not materialise in time.

“While talks about alternative solutions are still ongoing, the chance for restructuring right now is highly unlikely, and therefore, operations will be stopped. Given the situation, this is deeply regretful for all employees, and Lilium Aerospace thanks them for their resilience and dedication,” the company said in a statement.

An investment consortium called Mobile Uplift Corporation GmbH had pledged more than EUR200 million euros (USD209 million) to help the company recover from its debtor-in-possession…

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) in its latest newsletter said that over the years since the introduction of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), more companies are getting resolved, and the number of liquidations is going down.

“There is a visible trend reversal in the number of companies going into liquidation under the Code. While the liquidation process has undergone important course corrections over the years, there is scope for further improvement,” IBBI chairperson Ravi Mittal said.

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IBBI further said that in 2017-18, for every one case that was resolved, five companies would go into liquidation. In 2024-25, till December, IBBI data showed that for every one…

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About 350 jobs are expected to go across 26 stores as the Irish branch of fashion retailer New Look enters liquidation.

Impacted staff were notified after the High Court in Ireland approved the appointment of provisional liquidators last Thursday. New Look said further engagement is planned over the coming days.

The retailer is seeking to wind down its Irish operations following several years of “sustained losses and challenging market conditions”.

New Look employs a total of 347 people across its network in the Republic of Ireland.

The company, which…