Irish development and investment group Ardale Property has completed its acquisition of Weslin Construction, which was in examinership. The €500,000 deal will save 15 jobs and position Ardale across a number of sectors, the Irish Times reported. Alan Hegarty, of Ardale Property Group, said that the investment “was an easy one”. “We would not have made this investment unless we felt we could bring Weslin forward.

Administrators for currency trading firm Alpari (UK) Ltd said they had received a number of inquiries from potential buyers of the business hit by heavy losses from last week's surge in the value of the Swiss franc, Reuters reported. Alpari lost millions of dollars after the Swiss National Bank removed its currency cap on Thursday and administrators appointed on Monday said that efforts to find a buyer for Alpari (UK) over the weekend failed and they would hold talks with interested suitors in the coming days. U.S.

Russia’s economy will shrink by close to 5 per cent this year, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development forecast, while average growth for eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union will fall into negative territory for the first time since 2009, the Financial Times reported. The development bank for the former Communist bloc said plunging oil prices and western sanctions would lead to a contraction in the Russia’s economy of 4.8 per cent this year, compared with a forecast drop of 0.2 per cent in September.

The European Central Bank is poised to head into uncharted territory as it nears a decision Thursday on whether to launch a controversial stimulus program aimed at boosting Europe’s fading economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. The bank’s challenge: engineer a plan that impresses investors, passes muster with conservative ECB members and—most of all—helps bring Europe out of its slump. The meeting comes as Europe is on the ropes.

Kenmare Resources, the Irish mineral sands miner hit by the fall in commodity prices, is seeking to finalise a deal with lenders to restructure its debt load by the end of the month. Dublin-based Kenmare has struggled with the size of its debt and a succession of operating problems, including power-supply interruptions. The company, founded in 1986, “has disappointed on many levels over a long time”, said one shareholder, the Irish Times reported.

A Galway-based company is being sued by a Luxembourg investor over the alleged effective cancellation of a €2 million loan note when it was converted into shares before the firm was sold off, the Irish Times reported. In Commercial Court proceedings, it is claimed Éire Composites, which designs and manufactures lightweight high-performance materials for the aerospace, marine and motor sectors, was bought by businessman Thomas Flanagan last November despite objections by Carlo Tassara Assets Management Ltd (CTAM), with registered offices in Luxembourg.

The proposed end of insolvency litigation’s exemption from the Legal Aid, Sentencing, and Punishment of Offenders Act (LAPSO) has been challenged by an Early Day Motion tabled in Parliament, Credit Today reported. MP’s have thrown their support for a review of the decision to end the exemption before the Act comes into force in April, with 22 signatures of support recorded as of 14 January, primarily from the Labour party. Giles Frampton, president of insolvency trade body R3, has also supported the proposal.

The liquidator of insolvent Setanta Insurance expects there could be a “significant shortfall” between available funds and the total value of claims, The Irish Times reported. Paul Mercieca of Deloitte, who was appointed as liquidator to the Dublin-based insurance company in April 2014, said that as a result of the expected shortfall he intends to make advance applications to the Insurance Compensation Fund on behalf of claimants. The State-backed fund, which was established in 1964, is one into which all Irish insurers pay into to cover claims in the event of a company going bust.

Austria's parliament launched an investigation on Wednesday into defunct lender Hypo Alpe Adria, seeking to assign blame for the country's worst postwar financial scandal that has soured ties with Bavaria, Reuters reported. Making use of new powers for opposition parties to demand such probes, parliament is due to call several high-profile figures to testify on Hypo's spectacular rise, near-collapse and role in increasing state debt and the budget deficit.

Finland has emerged as the biggest stumbling block to negotiating a new bailout deal with an incoming Greek government, telling its eurozone partners that it will not support debt forgiveness and is reluctant to back another extension of the €172bn rescue, the Financial Times reported. In an interview, Finland’s prime minister said he would give a “resounding no” to any move to forgive Greece’s debts and warned that a new government in Athens would have to stick to the terms of the existing bailout.