Greece has two weeks to produce some red meat, the International New York Times reported in commentary. The prospect of a default is off the table for the time being after Yanis Varoufakis, the country’s finance minister, confirmed that Greece would meet a payment to the International Monetary Fund on Thursday. But, with more payments looming, the fear of bankruptcy will be back by the end of April if Greece doesn’t come up with some serious overhauls by then.

Russia's VTB bank and Gazprombank are holding talks on the restructuring of mining giant Mechel's debt, along with other Russian banks, VTB head Andrei Kostin announced on Monday, Sputnik News reported. "We are working with Mechel, discussions continue, we are also holding talks with other banks, including Gazprombank, trying to find some kind of a solution, but so far I cannot say that we have a deal," Kostin said. According to the VTB head, Mechel's readiness to pay off its overdue debt is a positive development.

A top Bulgarian court has definitively refused to consider an appeal against the revoking of the banking licence of Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank or KTB), opening the way for an insolvency case against the collapsed lender to proceed. The appeal against the Bulgarian central bank's decision to withdraw the licence had been filed by KTB's majority owner Bromak EOOD. The Bulgarian Acquisition Company II, another Corpbank shareholder, and Vera Ahundova, a representative of a group of KTB depositors who suffered losses from the bank's closure, supported the appeal.

Hungary has room to cut its interest rates even more from 1.95%, the lowest on record, because of falling consumer prices and a recent conversion of foreign-currency loans into forints, which has reduced the vulnerability of households, a central banker said. With consumer prices falling on an annual basis for sixth months in a row and posting an annual decline of 1% in February, the central bank last week cut its main interest rate by 0.15 percentage point to 1.95%, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Switzerland’s new “say on pay” rules could make it harder for investment banking stars at UBS and Credit Suisse to outpace their bosses in compensation, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. All the country’s listed companies face binding shareholder votes on executive compensation this year. But the Swiss public’s hostility toward its banks means they could be first in the firing line. The initial effect on UBS and Credit Suisse’s investment banking chiefs will be indirect.

After more than six long and lonely years, Iceland is hoping its financial isolation will soon be over. The North Atlantic nation, whose spectacular 2008 meltdown came to symbolise the greed and mismanagement of the global financial system, is expected to begin unwinding the bankruptcies of its three main banks and lifting controls on the movement of capital in and out of the island within months.

European bankers saw their pay increase in 2015, though they still lag behind their American counterparts, according to a snapshot of bonuses released on Wednesday by Emolument.com, a salary benchmarking website in Britain. European bonuses were up 18 percent to 136,000 pounds, or about $201,000, in 2015, while bankers’ bonuses in the United States ticked up to the equivalent of £216,000, for the same period, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported.

Developer Johnny Ronan has repaid his debts to the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) using cash raised from US and UK investors, Mr Ronan was one of the highest profile developers during the property boom that ultimately led to the Republic’s financial crash in 2008.

Innotech Solar has filed for insolvency, blaming its predicament on “general uncertainty within the European PV market”. The filing was made at Narvik in Norway on 24 March, the company said. German subsidiaries ITS Innotech Solar Module GmbH, ITS Halle Cell GmbH and Energiebau Solar Power GmbH, Cologne, also filed for insolvency on 25 March. The insolvency of the three German subsidiaries affects a total of 120 employees. Their wages and salaries will be secured until the end of May by the German Insolvency fund.

The joint special liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation have said they intend to continue with the bank’s legal action against the former chief executive of Irish Nationwide, Michael Fingleton, the Irish Times reported. In a statement, the liquidators, Eamonn Richardson and Kieran Wallace, confirmed that the bank has settled its legal action against former directors of the society in connection with losses sustained by the society. The settlement arose in mediation talks and included an undisclosed payment from the former directors.