We should be used to them by now, but the figures relating to the Irish banking and economic crash still have the power to shock. At the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry, Central Bank of Ireland governor Patrick Honohan said the overall net cost to the economy of the banking bust was “well in excess of €100 billion and still growing”, the Irish Times reported in a commentary. What might the State have saved if an alternative to the blanket bank guarantee had been chosen?

Retirement funds and life assurers are in danger of being unable to keep their promises to pensioners and policyholders because of rock-bottom interest rates, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned, the Financial Times reported. Ultraloose monetary policy poses “serious problems to the solvency” of pension schemes and insurers as they struggle to produce enough income to fund their obligations, the group of rich nations said on Wednesday.

International creditors demanded politically sensitive changes to Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras’ tax and reform proposals on Wednesday, adding fresh uncertainty to talks aimed at unlocking aid to avert a debt default next week, the Irish Times reported. Mr Tsipras spent all afternoon in a meeting with the heads of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and euro zone finance ministers, but officials said there was no breakthrough.

Businesses avoid paying $200 billion annually in taxes by channeling their overseas’ investments through offshore financial hubs, a United Nations agency said Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The estimate by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development is one of the first attempts by an international governmental organization to put a figure on tax avoidance by companies that record their profits in countries with low tax rates, regardless of where those profits are actually earned.

In its latest proposal to creditors, Greece calls for new corporate taxes and other revenue-raising measures. A deal would help unlock fresh aid for the strapped country, just days before it faces a crucial debt payment, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Although the Greek proposal drew initial support from European officials, some of the details are prompting pushback. Creditors want further pension cuts and additional changes to the value-added tax system, including better collection efforts.

Ukraine's sixteenth largest lender, Financial Initiative Bank, has been declared insolvent, the central bank said on Wednesday, as it pushed ahead with a drive to clean-up the country's financial system. Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, which has agreed a $17.5 billion bailout for Ukraine in exchange for reforms to the over-populated and corrupt system, Kiev has closed more than 50 banks over the past 18 months. That cut the number of active banks by around 25 percent.

Greece’s lenders on Tuesday were scrutinizing a proposal seen as a potential breakthrough on a last-minute bailout deal, but significant concerns by more demanding creditors suggest that further days of tough negotiations lie ahead before an agreement can be clinched, The Wall Street Journal reported. After months of virtual deadlock, officials emerged from a string of meetings in Brussels on Monday optimistic over a Greek concession on pensions.

In the eyes of international lenders, Portugal is a shining example of what Greece should have been: a bailed-out country that co-operates with its creditors, stoically enduring years of austerity to bring about reforms that gradually improve an ailing economy, the Financial Times reported. But Lisbon’s status as eurozone posterchild — cited as “proof” that adjustment programmes work by Germany’s hawkish finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble — would not be enough to shield it from the full blast of market turbulence if Greece exits the currency bloc.

Russia’s sufficient reserves and flexible monetary policy ensures the country’s financial stability for now, but a possible interest-rate increase in the U.S. and unpredictable oil prices keep the central bank ready to intervene, the Bank of Russia said Tuesday. Facing soaring inflation and a contracting economy, the Bank of Russia has been increasingly active in adjusting its monetary policy over the past months in an attempt to preserve financial stability, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Banks will be able to claw back bonuses from their most senior managers for up to a decade under rules published on Tuesday by UK regulators, the Financial Times reported. The Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority said in a joint statement on Tuesday that they were pushing ahead with rules for a wider seven-year clawback period, but that a further three years is being considered for the top tier of banks’ management where regulators find problems, to run concurrently with a seven-year bonus-deferral period.