Falling commercial real estate prices after the UK’s vote to leave the EU pose a threat to bank stability because of the market’s reliance on foreign capital, Bank of England said. Values have declined 2.6 per cent since the referendum and may drop further from their current high levels, according to the central bank’s twice-yearly assessment, the Irish Times reported. Continuing declines would affect companies’ access to finance because many use commercial real estate as collateral.

UK banks' Additional Tier 1 bonds would be fair game and converted into equity if they hit severe problems, the Bank of England's most stringent stress tests yet showed on Wednesday. This year's test was the third annual healthcheck by the Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and was more severe than in 2014 and 2015. It was the first based on the central bank's new approach to stress testing, which includes potential misconduct costs, Reuters reported.

Banca Popolare di Bari is poised to sell the riskier bonds in its landmark bad loan securitisation without the help of Italy's rescue fund, having turned to a US hedge fund instead, according to people familiar with the situation, Reuters reported. The Italian lender has lined up Davidson Kempner Capital Management for both the mezzanine and junior notes in the Popolare di Bari NPLs 2016 securitisation, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The 14m mezzanine chunk is rated B(High)/B2, while the 10m junior slice is unrated.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is seeking to help alleviate the impact of Brexit on the Irish economy by opening up new funding channels for businesses in Ireland, its vice-president has said, the Irish Times reported. Speaking in Brussels ahead of the opening of the first EIB office in Ireland next week, offered by the Luxembourg-based bank. “Brexit will have a big impact on business and consumer confidence in Ireland. There is need for European support in Ireland to improve financing conditions, not only for infrastructural projects but also for enterprises,” he said.

Sales of second-hand ships used to haul commodities such as iron ore, coal, grain and fertilizer have hit a seven-year high in 2016 as the industry creeps out of an eight-year downturn that has sunk several fleets of shippers, Reuters reported. Seaborne transport, which accounts for 85 percent of global trade, has seen a tentative recovery in the rates shippers charge to carry dry-bulk cargoes, which has encouraged buyers to jump at the bargain prices for second-hand vessels.

Ireland needs to act “urgently”to put in place by 2020 an auto-enrolment system, which would boost private pension coverage, the Irish Times reported. “A road map needs to be put in place for the introduction of an auto-enrolment system for all Irish businesses. I am calling in the Government to make it an urgent priority to ensure that an auto-enrolment system is put into Irish law by 2020. I believe this can be done through crossparty agreement,” Brian Hayes MEP said. His comments come against a background of declining private pension coverage in Ireland.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena may have got the green light for an ambitious recapitalisation, but the bank is yet to convince investors to buy into the complex plan needed to keep the troubled lender afloat, Reuters reported. Shareholders in Italy's third largest lender last week approved a 5bn recapitalisation aimed at keeping the bank from being wound down. BMPS is set to launch on Monday a debt-to-equity conversion offer that seeks to reduce the size of a proposed share sale.

The German pilots union VC has announced further strikes at Lufthansa for Tuesday and Wednesday after fresh talks at the end of a four-day walkout failed to settle their long-running pay dispute, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story. "Unfortunately the high-level talks that took place today at short notice failed to produce a result," VC board member Joerg Handwerg said in a statement on Sunday.

The special liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation have secured court orders approving a process to repay an estimated €100 million in overcharged interest by the former Anglo Irish Bank. The orders were sought arising from a High Court finding of 2011 that the bank had overcharged John Morrissey, Palmerston Road, Ranelagh, €143,676 in interest on an overall sum of some €31.6 million allegedly owed to it, the Irish Times reported.

Britain's biggest energy suppliers have submitted bids to take over 160,000 customers left behind by bankrupt energy provider GB Energy, which collapsed on Saturday after being caught out by rising market prices, Reuters reported. All of Britain's Big Six energy suppliers, EDF Energy , Innogy's Npower, E.ON, Scottish Power, SSE and Centrica's British Gas, have submitted bids in a tender run by regulator Ofgem to supply GB Energy's customers, sources familiar with the matter said. Npower confirmed it had submitted a bid. Centrica, EDF Energy, SSE, E.ON and Scottish Power declined to comment.