Bankers in Europe are calling for a shake-up of legislation governing bank covenants after Energis, the UK-based communications and internet services company, declined to disclose the nature of covenants that it might be about to breach.

Last week Energis said that it may breach certain financial covenants under a £725m (€1.2bn) bank facility signed just six weeks ago. Investors panicked and the company's share price halved to 23 pence, while its high-yield bonds fell by more than 15 points to around 70 cents in the dollar. Moody's put Energis's rating on negative outlook.