The fate of emerging market currencies is looming ever larger in the outlook for interest rates in The House of Lords, Parliament’s upper chamber, issued a rare rebuke to the government Monday over plans to cut tax rebates for working families, a widely unpopular part of a budget-cutting strategy that would affect thousands of British householdsm The Wall Street Journal reported.

Standard Chartered, the Asia-focused bank based in London, said on Monday that it planned to exit its equity derivatives and convertible bonds units as its new chief executive, William T. Winters, reshapes the company, the International New York Times reported. The decision to wind down those businesses followed the bank’s decision to close its institutional cash equities, equity research and equity capital markets operations in January.

The fate of emerging market currencies is looming ever larger in the outlook for interest rates in the advanced world, promising that their central banks will keep policies super loose for some time to come, Reuters reported. Ever since China sprang a surprise depreciation of the yuan in August, the resulting decline of a whole host of emerging market (EM) currencies has produced a disinflationary pulse that the world is ill prepared to withstand.

The European Central Bank says it wants euro zone countries to stir up growth with structural reforms, but its own money printing plans have taken the pressure off politicians for action, leaving European Union rules to drive often unpopular change, Reuters reported. And although the EU toughened up those rules during the sovereign debt crisis, the European Commission has been weak in enforcing them in the teeth of opposition from governments reluctant to coordinate their fiscal policies.

“Constant tinkering” with pensions rules is saddling British business with unmanageable cost and compliance burdens, company chiefs have warned, the Financial Times reported. The CBI employers’ group surveyed 160 businesses employing more than half a million people and found that eight of out 10 executives think the government should stop making changes to the pensions regime, after complex reforms. Business leaders are also concerned staff may stop saving for their retirement if tax benefits continue to be eroded as pensions become more complicated, the CBI found.

Listed housebuilder Cairn Homes and Lone Star have both submitted indicative offers for a portfolio of Royal Bank of Scotland loans backed by land earmarked for houses in Dublin, according to sources. Centerbridge Partners was also among bidders for the package of loans known as Project Clear, according to another source, who said the deadline for bids was Wednesday. Project Clear is comprised of loans secured against 1,850 acres of zoned land, with room for 20,000 houses and apartments, according to one source. It is reportedly worth as much as €500 million.

Hundreds of thousands of Greeks, who have other professions and may cultivate very little of their land, claim to be farmers in order to cash in on a variety of tax breaks and farming subsidies, the International New York Times reported. Lawyers and doctors, for instance, plant olive groves in northern Greece, though the climate is inappropriate, and then collect government compensation for damaged crops. The privileges of farmers have long been a hot-button issue in Greece. The country’s creditors have pressed past governments to rein in farmers’ benefits.

AIB and Bank of Ireland are among a number of banks who have been criticised in the UK for not working hard enough to compete for customers, the Irish Times reported. However, in a move that will be welcomed by Britain’s biggest financial institutions, none are to be broken up or forced to ditch free banking services to improve competition in the industry.

Spain’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in four years, according to official figures released on Thursday, lifting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s chances of winning a December general election in which joblessness is one of the critical issues. Spain’s unemployment rate fell in the third quarter to 21.2 percent, from 22.4 percent in the previous quarter, according to a report from the National Statistics Institute. That brought down the number of people out of work to about 4.85 million — the lowest since mid-2011.

Russia's biggest lender Sberbank does not believe the indebted Transaero airline could be saved even if it changes owners, RIA news agency quoted Sberbank First Deputy Chief Executive Maxim Poletaev as saying on Thursday. The creditor would not withdraw its lawsuit seeking to declare Transaero bankrupt but was ready for talks with a co-owner of Russia's S7 Airlines who had signed an agreement to buy at least 51 percent of Transaero from its current owner, Poletaev was quoted as saying.