Despite frequent talks of economic recovery, the United States is still recording an all-time high bankruptcy rate. May 2010 marked a five-year high in bankruptcy filings, with figures hovering close to those recorded in other recent months despite having just twenty business days.

Insolvency practitioners have suggested that bankruptcy rates remain high for up to eighteen months after a recession, with delayed effects and long-term business issues causing owners to employ different strategies at first sight of financial failure. The majority of US bankruptcy filings involve small business owners, many of whom have been hurt by limited consumer demand.

Many of the United States’ largest companies have been affected by the recent recession, judged by some to be the second-worst in American history. Major casualties have included financial services firm Lehman Brothers and automaker General Motors, which filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in June 2009.

But it’s small businesses which have been falling by the wayside in record numbers. With banks cracking down on loans and cash flow a constant issue for businesses, many business owners had previously turned to alternative business recovery solutions. For many, that option is unfortunately no longer on the table.

It’s not just Britain’s businesses that are hovering close to bankruptcy. Former royal Sarah Ferguson is no stranger to financial trouble, and after a recent string of incidents it appears she’s closer to filing for bankruptcy than every before.

The Duchess of York recently revealed that she has hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid debts – the bulk of which she’s seeking to repay – during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The former royal was known for her extravagant spending during the 1990s, racking up almost four-million dollars in debt before repaying it through product endorsements and media deals.

The Oprah announcement comes at an unusual time for Ferguson, who has recently patched up her chilly relationship with Britain’s royal family. London-based law firm Davenport Lyons filed claims against Ferguson just two months ago, claiming that she had failed to pay a low six-figure legal fee.

Tabloid newspaper News of the World shortly followed suit, reporting that the former Duchess had accepted money from an undercover reported posing as an Indian businessman. The news video is publicly available online – one of several recent media reports documenting Ferguson’s deep financial woes.

Even business-friendly Ireland is encountering issues in today’s harsh economic climate. Recent statistics have shown a significant increase in the number of Irish businesses becoming insolvent, with the first quarter of 2010 yielding a record number of company insolvencies.

During the first three months of 2010, up to five Irish businesses became insolvent daily. Analysts blame the sudden increase in company insolvency on the construction industry, claiming that the number of businesspeople relying on the construction sector’s success is unsustainable. High retail space rental rates have also been named as a reason for the surge in insolvencies, with many small boutique stores forced to close amid rising property rental rates.

Export-driven businesses have thus far escaped the devastating economic conditions, instead benefiting from relatively high demand and favourable international business environments. Ireland’s position as an international business centre in Europe appears to be unhurt – many major technology companies maintain an office in the north-west European country.

The Irish government has taken a number of steps to improve the economy, including an automotive trade-in scheme designed to boost new car sales. While conditions are on the rise, it might be some time before Ireland returns to its former economic position; financial analysts claim that the current insolvency rates are over five times higher than they were during the country’s ‘Celtic Tiger’ period.

Crystal Palace FC are no strangers to financial mismanagement. The troubled football club was recently sold to CPFC 2010, narrowly escaping a prolonged company insolvency period. After a second administration period in January, the latest sale could have the club seeing financial stability by the year’s end.

But experts are insistent that the near-bankruptcy is evidence of greater problems within the football world. Several clubs have scraped the financial floor this year, including former Premier League competitors Portsmouth FC. Insolvencies have become a common occurrence, with an increasingly large number of clubs running into long-term financial issues.

Former Leads chairman Gerald Krasner claims that up to eight clubs are at risk of bankruptcy, with summer earnings drops set to tighten financial restrictions and limit cash flow further. Club owners and management groups are being advised to stay cautious with spending and long-term strategical planning, aiming to avoid further bankruptcies in the football world.

For Crystal Palace fans, the news was certainly worth celebrating. The club has a fairly long way to go before returning completely to competitive football, with a company voluntary arrangement to go through and financial management concerns to address.

It’s not just Premier League teams that are getting caught up in debt –  after declaring bankruptcy earlier this month, the Texas Rangers plan to acquire over $20 million in loans in order to repair and restructure the team’s financial structure. With millions of dollars in owed debts, the Rangers are hoping to earn their way back into Major League Baseball with a $575 million bankruptcy sale.

The team’s holding company – Texas Rangers Baseball Partners – filed for business bankruptcy protection earlier this month, citing an inability to repay short-term debts and move forward as a commercial entity. Team managers plan to sell the team, quoting a $575 million offer from the Ryan-Greenberg management group as evidence of progress.

However, many Rangers fans believe that the team could be sold for significantly more. Despite its short-term financial problems, the Rangers remain one of the most recognizable Major League Baseball teams. Current club debts total $575 million, allowing the team to repay back salaries and meet creditor requirements.

Short-term progress seems likely, with the Major League Baseball management team aiming to expedite the team’s sale. Creditors and team management alike are aiming to maximise the team’s long-term potential and ensure a smooth transition for fans.

The late 1990s were an interesting time for entrepreneurs. With the internet revolution in full swing and investor confidence at truly ridiculous levels, almost any business idea was able to generate interest from venture capitalists – quite often, interest that extended well into the hundreds-of-millions of dollars.

And while the bubble eventually burst, the 1990s did leave us with some great companies. There’s publishing giant Amazon, search empire Google, and email powerhouse Hotmail. But alongside those ultra-successful online giants are some true shockers – websites that shouldn’t have progressed beyond the planning stages.

We’ve tracked down seven of the most ill conceived dot-com startups. From disastrous delivery services to truly idiotic online currency ideas, these seven businesses were destined for failure right from the beginning. For one, business recovery is possible, but for the others bankruptcy proved to be the only option.

1. TheGlobe.com

Source: http://tinyurl.com/2v7qneh

Founded by university friends Stephen Paternot and Todd Krizelman, TheGlobe.com was one of the internet’s first social networking and entertainment websites. The two college buddies built the website together after stumbling onto a series of chatrooms while at university and realizing the medium’s potential for generating income.

After securing $20 million in funding and generating a huge amount of online interest, the two 23-year-old founders were each earning over $600,000 annually in stock options and salaries. The company went public in 1998 and Paternot and Krizelman enjoyed the fruits of their labor – both founders were worth almost $100 million.

Unfortunately, the success was short-lived. After Paternot released a statement claiming he’d “got the girl. Got the money. Now I’m ready to live a disgusting, frivolous life.” media groups took a closer look at the company and realized it was almost worthless. Stock prices dropped from almost $100 to less than ten cent within a year, and the two founders found themselves significantly less wealthy.

2. Webvan

Source: http://tinyurl.com/3xnuktf

Financial observers have named Webvan as the biggest dot-com disaster in history, and for good reason. After raising over $1 billion in venture funding, this Silicon Valley startup managed to burn through every cent building infrastructure on the United States’ western coast, all without a long-term revenue model or strategy.

As expected, things didn’t quite go as planned. Despite plans to dominate the home delivery industry – a field in which none of Webvan’s executives were experienced – the company failed to generate any profits before folding in 2001. Two years down and over $1 billion wasted – Webvan managed to burn through more cash daily than some cities do on a monthly basis.

3. Flooz

Source: http://tinyurl.com/33yps6m

Flooz was an experiment in online currency – a precursor to virtual currencies and what was meant to be an all-in-one online shopping center. Launched with goals of becoming the internet’s dominant online currency, Flooz.com billed itself as an alternative to credit-card-based online shopping and a safe option for consumers.

Unfortunately, online shoppers weren’t particularly happy about buying ‘Flooz credits’ in order to purchase their books and movies. After failing to generate any real business, the company folded in early 2001, leaving all of their customers without any method of refunding their credits.

4. Ning

Source: http://tinyurl.com/34akbeq

Ning is the odd-one-out in our dot-com countdown. This social networking service wasn’t launched in the 20^th century, it wasn’t backed by hundreds of clueless and non-techie investors, and it didn’t have plans for world domination and huge profits. In fact, it’s a relatively modern company – one that’s still around, albeit in a struggling state.

After raising over $100 million in venture capital, Netscape founder Marc Andreessen launched Ning as a do-it-yourself social networking service. The website was immensely popular, finding millions of users within a year, but performed very poorly as a commercial property. After struggling to monetize the website’s free networks, Andreessen announced a change of strategy in early 2010; Ning would focus on their paid members, leaving their free users with two months to permanently leave the website.

5. Kozmo.com

Source: http://tinyurl.com/37jmfd9

Kozmo.com specialized in one thing: delivery. They’d deliver anything you wanted, be it a foamy latte, a new stereo, or a selection of dips and finger foods. The New York City company specialized in deliveries around Manhattan island, bringing office workers lunchtime meals and delivering groceries to homes in the late evening.

Despite offering a valuable service, the company struggled to generate income. After a $25 million loss in its first year on just $3 million in income, Kozmo’s founders did what any failing business owners would – they raised even more money to throw at their failing venture. Two years and almost $250 million later, the company closed for good after failing to generate any long-term profits.

6. Think Tools

Source: http://tinyurl.com/33snsv4

Think Tools was the most bizarre of all dot-com bombs. Unlike other dot-com companies, which generated income from sales or services, Think Tools made their money through consulting, an activity with little room for long-term growth of scalability. Founded in 1993 and built into a large company over the years, the Swiss consultancy firm developed several pieces of software, few of which even began to approach profitability.

In one of the strangest business moves ever, the consultancy company decided to go public. Share prices rose quickly as investors grew interested in technology firms, yet dropped even faster when people came to realize that Think Tools had virtually no long-term business model. Touted as the European Webvan, this IT consultancy corporation just wasn’t a good public business idea.

7. Boo.com

Source: http://tinyurl.com/2v6coqj

UK fashion startup Boo.com is remembered as one of Europe’s most sudden corporate collapses. The Swedish-backed online fashion store opened in 1999, slowed to the market by numerous delays and funding worries. Backed by over $130 million in venture funding and the experience of several keen online entrepreneurs, the startup managed to burn through every single cent of available capital in under a year.

After its collapse, the website enjoyed a renaissance as one of the dot-com era’s least well-planned investments. From poor usability to a questionable revenue model, Boo is thought of by many Britons in the same way as Americans observed the Pets.com or Webvan disasters.

Bankrupt American investment bank Lehman Brothers has filed a lawsuit against financial services firm JPMorgan Chase, insisting that the lender was responsible for tens-of-billions of dollars worth of losses during its controversial bankruptcy.

As the principal lender for Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan Chase had unrivalled access into the firm’s financial records, information which Lehman Brother’s counsel claims allowed them to demand collateral payments from the company. The lawsuit aims to recoup billions of dollars in lost income, which Lehman’s legal team insists the company is entitled to.

Lehman Brothers’ business bankruptcy was one of the most visible of the last three years, a victim of what many economists are referring to as the world’s second depression. The bank has attracted controversy due to its large executive bonuses and immense payouts to service firms hired to move the financial services company through bankruptcy.

As details of financial mismanagement and controversial high-level decisions become public, it seems inevitable that Lehman’s dealings will attract greater scrutiny and criticism. For now, this lawsuit serves as an interesting example of a thin financial firm attempting to regain some public footing.

JPMorgan Chase and Co. described the lawsuit as ‘ill-conceived’.

Premier League football fans have spent the last six months in uncertainty, wondering whether former Premier League team Portsmouth FC will escape its £138 million debt burden. The past few months have been particularly troubling for Portsmouth fans, with an additional £10 million of unpaid debts and claims against the club coming to light, limiting its chances at re-entering the Premier League.

However, a new company voluntary arrangement deal (CVA) could see Portsmouth piece together a long-term debt relief plan and regain its spot in UK football. The club is expected to enter a company voluntary arrangement deal at some point in June, limiting its total debt obligations and creating a long-term payment plan for creditors.

The club’s insolvency has attracted both criticism and sympathy from investment experts, who have described the well-known football club’s financial management strategy as ‘disastrous.’ In order to enter the CVA over 75% of the club’s creditors – ranked by ownership value – would need to approve.

By using a combined CVA and liquidation plan, the club plans to offer greater returns to its creditors than a standard insolvency. Portsmouth’s management team have stressed that the CVA is the best long-term option for the club, claiming that their focus is not just on escaping debt but ensuring a stable future for the Football League team.

Iraq’s national carrier found itself in a tight spot recently – the airline has been through several legal disputes over war reparations to Kuwait. Regional carrier Kuwait Airways claim that the state-owned Iraqi airline is responsible for over $1.2 billion worth of airplane parts and vehicles stolen during the 1990 Gulf War.

As Iraq has only just opened direct flights to Europe, the airline was previously unaffected by the complex legal dispute. However, after a team of Kuwaiti lawyers attempted to ground a plane at Gatwick Airport, the airline suspended all flights indefinitely and offered refunds to affected customers.

The state-owned airline is now filing for bankruptcy, unable to met its debt obligations and facing a three-year winding down period. Hundreds of jobs are at risk in Iraq, where the air travel industry is largely international, and approximately 20 employee positions could be at risk in Britain.

As a government operated company, the airline’s bankruptcy could cause issues for Iraq’s other government branches. The $1.2 billion debt represent a major blow to the nation’s economy – one that, up until now, had been operating without major international debts. It’s unknown whether those working for the airline from the UK will retain their jobs.

Outgoing retail executive Stuart Rose was adamant that Marks & Spencer will remain highly profitable, claiming that the company is significantly stronger than it was just six years ago. After being made Executive Chairman in June 2008, Rose has seen profits fall in the large retail chain, sparking investor worry and contributing to a drop in share prices.

Despite the lowered share price, the chairman was enthusiastic and positive about M&S’s future. Due to leave the company within the coming months, Rose claimed that the large amount of capital expenditures – over £3 billion at last count – have put the company at a greater advantage than their previous strategy.

While Marks & Spencer never came close to filing for bankruptcy, the company supposedly fell out of style in the early 2000s. Claiming that the outdated image was limiting profits, Rose successfully reworked M&S’s public image and gained approval from retail specialists. The company invested in industries outside of retail clothing and food, gaining a share of Britain’s furniture market.

With the credit crunch still hurting UK shoppers, Marks & Spencer face an uphill battle to return to their former profit levels. Net profits decreased by over 30 percent in 2009 – an action that could repeat itself as budgets tighten and a greater number of Britons struggle with personal debt.