Switzerland refused a request for assistance to help bring prosecutions here on the basis of the leaked HSBC Geneva banking files, according to the Irish Revenue Commissioners. Revenue chairman Niall Cody has also told the Dáil Committee of Public Accounts that 13 people are the subject of ongoing investigations arising from the Swiss data, with the amount in their accounts involving a maximum of $14.83 million.

Spain’s government, predicting strong economic growth after years of harsh spending cutbacks, will offer tax breaks to encourage long-term hiring and help struggling single-parent families, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Spanish leader announced the measures during a state of the nation address that spelled out themes of his campaign for a second term.

Another insolvency claim has been filed against Rigas kugu buvetava (Riga Shipyard), according to information provided by Firmas.lv. The insolvency case was initiated by the Riga Northern District Court on February 20, according to information published on the Insolvency Administration's website. The claim was filed by the foreign company Nordweg Ship Repair. The court will review the case on March 5, as LETA learned from the court. Riga Shipyard CEO Janis Skvarnovics told LETA that the company has not received any documents from the court, he was therefore unable to comment on the case.

Eurozone finance ministers on Tuesday approved Greece’s plan meant to ease the hardships created by its international bailout, extending that loan program by four more months, the International New York Times reported. In revising the terms of the bailout program, the new Greek government pledged to take a disciplined approach to budgets, spending and tax collection, while remaining committed to relieving the “humanitarian crisis” caused by years of economic hardship and high unemployment.

British regulators have exempted junior non-executive directors of banks and insurance companies from a tough new personal liability regime which could make them criminally liable for bank failures, the Financial Times reported. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), had originally planned to include all non-executive directors of banks and insurers in its new rules, after criticism that those running collapsed UK banks could not be held personally liable for their institutions’ demise.

Portugal plans to make an early payment of about €14 billion of its bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund after borrowing costs dropped, prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho said, the Irish Times reported. “The market conditions that Portugal has access to now are more favourable that those agreed on with the IMF and therefore we will save in the future by paying part of the IMF loan early,” Mr Coelho said.

Shareholders in technology developer Altobridge say that questions remain to be answered over the decision to place it in receivership last year, the Irish Times reported. Intel Capital and the World Bank appointed a receiver to Altobridge last year on foot of a secured debt in a move that resulted in the loss of 45 jobs at its base in Tralee, Co Kerry and a further 85 in its offices outside Ireland. The exchequer footed the bill for the Irish workers’ statutory redundancy payments, which came to more than €270,000, through the Department of Social Protection.

Greek leaders scrambled on Sunday to come up with a list of proposed changes to the nation’s austerity program that would be acceptable to their creditors by a Monday deadline, even as they faced a revolt by members of their own radical-left party, angered that the government had bent to demands by Brussels, the International New York Times reported.

Investment banks in the UK face an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority regulator into possible conflicts of interest and anti-competitive practices, the Financial Times reported. However, the probe is unlikely to lead to an overhaul of the sector, say financial experts, and some of its intended beneficiaries question whether it is needed at all. The FCA announced on Thursday a review of investment and corporate banking, invoking new powers that could force banks to stop selling products and be more transparent about how they charge clients.

Six years after suffering Europe’s biggest recession, Latvia is trying a controversial recipe used in some U.S. states to free people of household debt, The Wall Street Journal reported. Parliament on Thursday passed a set of laws allowing people to choose a “non-recourse” mortgage, that will allow household borrowers the option of returning the keys to the banks if they can’t pay their loans, while preventing the lender from pursuing the borrower’s other assets. The legislation was partly modeled on non-recourse mortgage laws in 11 U.S. states.