In the years after the financial crisis, many of the world’s biggest lenders set up vast “bad banks” to cleanse trillions of dollars in toxic assets from their balance sheets, the Financial Times reported. Until now, very few of them have needed a second bite at the cherry. However, six years after creating its first non-core unit, Deutsche Bank is repeating the trick. The Financial Times reported on Monday that Deutsche is seeking to divest a further €50bn of assets adjusted for riskiness on its balance sheet.

The Central Bank will be able to fine and disqualify senior bankers for failings under their watch without first proving wrongdoing by their employers under planned new laws being drawn up in the wake of the tracker-mortgage scandal, The Irish Times reported. More than a decade after the financial crash and three years after Britain introduced a senior manager regime, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe received the go-ahead from Cabinet on Tuesday to push through similar measures in the Republic. It is expected to come into force from next year.

Bosnia’s aluminium smelter Aluminij Mostar is seeking a strategic partner to avoid bankruptcy and a consortium led by London-listed miner and commodity trader Glencore has shown interest, its general manager said on Monday, Reuters reported. Aluminij, based in Bosnia’s southern town of Mostar and one of the Balkan country’s biggest exporters, has been in trouble for years over heavy debt accumulated because of high alumina and electricity prices.

An Italian parliamentary committee is set to approve later on Monday a tax measure to spur mergers among banks based in the country’s poorer south, a lawmaker of the ruling League party said, warning of lenders in the region at risk of default, Reuters reported. “We’re tackling an urgent issue,” Giulio Centemero, a member of the lower Chamber of Deputies, told Reuters. “Banks are key for the Italian economy and ...

An Italian parliamentary committee is set to approve later on Monday a tax measure to spur mergers among banks based in the country’s poorer south, a lawmaker of the ruling League party said, warning of lenders in the region at risk of default, Reuters reported. “We’re tackling an urgent issue,” Giulio Centemero, a member of the lower Chamber of Deputies, told Reuters. “Banks are key for the Italian economy and ...

Since the failure of merger talks with Commerzbank, there has been speculation that Deutsche Bank would embark on a major restructuring in the hopes of restoring its fortunes. Now, details are beginning to emerge, Forbes reported. According to the Financial Times, the bank’s chief executive, Christian Sewing, plans to create a “bad bank” into which will be placed up to €50bn ($56.18bn) of poorly performing assets, mostly from the troubled U.S. investment bank.

As markets seem prepared to call the European Central Bank’s bluff, we are left with fear and hope — that Mario Draghi and his successor will rise to the challenge, the Financial Times reported in a commentary. Story of his life, as they say. Ever since the ECB president took office eight years ago, he has dealt with the consequences of other policymakers’ mistakes, incompetence or inertia. As he nears the end of his term in October, we have lost count of the number of times Mr Draghi has been under pressure to act, having already done the right thing.

Kier is to cut 1,200 jobs and sell large chunks of its business as a crisis of confidence in the UK government contractor’s financial position forces it to begin paying suppliers in advance, the Financial Times reported. Andrew Davies, chief executive, said the company had briefed the government’s Cabinet Office, which accounts for 60 per cent of revenues, ahead of an announcement on Monday in which it said it would divest its mainly private sector-focused businesses in housing, property development, environmental consultancy and facilities management. “We are in regular di

Spanish retailer DIA said on Monday its main shareholder will seek a deal on how to restructure the discount supermarket chain’s towering debt after missing a Saturday deadline, Reuters reported. The company’s biggest shareholder, investment fund LetterOne, is negotiating with a group of 17 lenders, including seven investment funds, the details of a 380-million-euro ($426.63 million) refinancing agreement, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.

EU finance ministers agreed small steps towards creating a eurozone budget after marathon talks failed to settle a longstanding Franco-Dutch dispute over how it should be funded, the Financial Times reported. After almost 12 hours of sometimes fraught negotiations in Luxembourg that ran into the early hours of Friday, ministers were only able to agree the broad purpose of the budget, while putting to one side questions over its financing and eventual size.