On Monday, the Insolvency Service said the number of people declared insolvent in 2007 was 106, 645, just slightly below the record high in 2006, while bankruptcies were up 2.4%.

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Trying to discover what holds back entrepreneurs, the commission last year examined insolvency regimes and found that many countries treat honest insolvent entrepreneurs more or less like fraudsters, though only a tiny fraction of bankruptcies involve any fraud at all.

ECONOMIST: European entrepreneurs