The European Union’s Brexit point man signaled an uncompromising stance on talks, laying out a tight timetable for the U.K.’s exit from the bloc and sticking to its warning that the country couldn’t freely pick and choose its future relationship with the bloc, The Wall Street Journal reported. In his first public comments since taking the job, Michel Barnier kept up the pressure on U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, who has suggested her country wants both migration control and economic access—a stance many in the EU say is unrealistic. Mrs.

Italian banking shares strengthened on Tuesday on expectation that the European Central Bank will extend its quantitative easing programme when its governing council meets on Thursday in Frankfurt, the Irish Times reported. Amid reports that Italy’s third-largest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, may be preparing for a state bailout, the European Central Bank is expected to signal that it will extend its asset-purchase programme beyond March 2017.

A U.S. subsidiary of Spanish renewable energy firm Abengoa SA pressed a judge on Tuesday to approve its plan to exit bankruptcy over objections from a holdout creditor, who said the plan violated U.S. law by favoring the company's foreign parent, Reuters reported. After more than three hours of testimony and arguments, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey in Wilmington, Delaware, said he wanted additional written submissions from the parties. He did not say when he would rule. Abeinsa Holding Inc is one of dozens of global Abengoa subsidiaries that filed for U.S.

Ireland has become increasingly dependent on defined-contribution pensions as a source of funding for retirement, figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) show, which has warned that such schemes put too much risk on the individual and their design needs to be improved, the Irish Times reported. There were 13 OECD countries in which assets in funded pensions represented more than 50 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015, up from 10 in the early 2000s, according to the intergovernmental economic organisation.

An application to extend developer Sean Dunne’s bankruptcy will be heard at the High Court next month. Ms Justice Caroline Costello has fixed January 31st for the hearing, expected to last three days. Issues concerning whether there will be any cross-examination of either Mr Dunne or Chris Lehane, the official administering his bankruptcy, will be decided later. The matter was before the judge in the High Court bankruptcy list for case management purposes on Monday, when she told Mark Sanfey SC, for Mr Lehane, and Bill Shipsey SC, for Mr Dunne, it would be heard on January 31st.

In one of the most significant constitutional cases in decades, Britain’s Supreme Court began a hearing on Monday to determine whether Parliament should vote before the government begins formal steps to quit the European Union, the International New York Times reported. The outcome of the case could affect the timetable laid down by Prime Minister Theresa May, who wants to start withdrawal negotiations by the end of March. Mrs. May wanted to use prerogative powers to avoid a vote in Parliament.

Bankers were scrambling on Monday to secure a €5 billion recapitalisation of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the world’s oldest lender, after prime minister Matteo Renzi’s decisive loss in Italy’s referendum on constitutional reform added more uncertainty over the deal, the Irish Times reported. Italy’s troubled banking system and a complex rescue and restructuring of MPS has lurched into investor focus after Mr Renzi confirmed he would step down after a worse than expected defeat in Sunday’s vote.

Cleaning up Italy’s banks is an opportunity ripe for the wasting, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. The failed referendum on Sunday need not cause a crisis if UniCredit completes its rights issue and fellow lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena can be quickly stabilized. Political turmoil and weak growth, though, could push up bad loan levels, and the political will to fix them may be lacking.

The eurozone and the International Monetary Fund are at loggerheads in their attempts to reach a deal that would allow the IMF to join the EU’s €86bn bailout of Greece, the Financial Times reported. Talks between euro area ministers and the IMF on Monday broke up with little headway having been made in resolving splits over the programme, despite ministers approving a set of “short-term” debt relief measures for Greece.

Ireland has ranked fifth among European states in terms of the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) held by its banks, according to a report by the European Banking Authority in London, the Irish Times reported. The analysis shows Ireland with an NPL ratio of just more than 20 per cent, ranking fifth behind Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Slovenia. Across the board, the rate was 5.4 per cent with Luxembourg the best in class with a figure of about 1.5 per cent.