Beginning next October, corporate reorganization professionals in Britain are going to have do something quite amazing: At the start of a case, they are going to have to estimate what their total fees will be. And if they exceed that amount, they will have to go back to the creditors and obtain further approval, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Various proposals have been floated to help rein in costs, like greater judicial oversight and fixed fees, but the British proposal may have hit on an intriguing idea.

Spain's bank restructuring fund (FROB) said late on Wednesday it would not bail out the Spanish affiliate of Andorra's Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA) Banco Madrid, clearing the way for insolvency proceedings at the lender, Reuters reported. FROB, the state-funded vehicle which bailed out several Spanish banks during the height of the financial crisis in 2012, said the lender's problems did not pose a systemic risk which warranted the use of public funds. Banco Madrid began bankruptcy proceedings on Monday after customers rushed to empty accounts in the wake of U.S.

Protesters set cars on fire and clashed with police officers on Wednesday as they marched toward the European Central Bank’s new headquarters in a demonstration against austerity and capitalism that took on a markedly more heated tone than past protests, the International New York Times reported. The rally, organized by a group called Blockupy and German workers’ unions, drew thousands of people as the central bank inaugurated its new tower.

Bulgaria’s Parliament passed at second reading on March 18 the bill of amendments to the Bank Insolvency Act, which envision the appointment of a temporary bankruptcy receiver if a lender has had its licence stripped but no insolvency proceedings are ongoing, The Sofia Globe reported. The bill was prompted by the ongoing saga concerning the Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB), which was Bulgaria’s fourth-largest lender when it asked to be put under the supervision of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) in June 2014.

Technical talks between Greece and its creditors aren't going well, officials said Wednesday, with each blaming the other for the snags in crucial negotiations, The Wall Street Journal reported. Teams from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are getting very little information on the government’s finances and other key topics in Athens, two European officials said.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has expressed concern about ultra-low interest rates in the global economy, saying the decline presents an increasing danger of financial instability, the Irish Times reported. Citing lower oil prices and the European Central Bank’s €1.16 trillion bond-buying scheme, the OECD says in a new forecast that the growth prospects for major world economies look “slightly better” than in its previous forecast in November.

European Union officials on Wednesday proposed new rules to try to discourage tax-avoidance deals with multinational corporations, which critics say give some countries unfair business advantages, the International New York Times reported. Some of the bloc’s smaller countries, like Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, have offered the deals to attract the likes of Apple, Starbucks and Amazon. The companies, in turn, have saved huge sums on their corporate tax bills. But European Union authorities have been trying to curb that practice.

Insurers, asset managers and clearing houses should be subjected to the rigours of annual stress testing just as banks are, a Bank of England official has said, the Financial Times reported. The UK already stress tests its banks by scrutinising their balance sheets to see if they can withstand a major economic blow, such as a plummet in house prices. But financial stability could be improved by extending their use to other sectors, Alex Brazier, the newest member of the BoE’s Financial Policy Committee, told a parliamentary select committee on Tuesday.

A Spanish court on Tuesday said it was suspending insolvency proceedings at Banco Madrid while it waited for guidance from the country's bank restructuring fund FROB on whether it wanted to wind down or restructure the lender, Reuters reported. FROB is the state vehicle which bailed out several banks during a financial crisis two years ago. The court said in a written ruling that FROB had 14 days to clarify its plans and whether it would rescue the bank.

Former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive David Drumm has made an emergency request to a US court seeking more time to file legal papers arguing why it should overturn a ruling blocking a write-off of his debts, the Irish Times reported. Mr Drumm asked for the deadline to submit his appeal brief, due this week, to the Massachusetts District Court to be put back to April 13th arguing that he should be given the time because he has hired a new lawyer. The former banker also wants permission from the court to increase the page limit for the brief to 40 pages, or 19,000 words.