On the eve of a multibillion-dollar settlement with six giant banks suspected of manipulating the foreign currency market, regulators in Washington and Britain have encountered a last-second complication: One of the banks may drop out of the deal, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. The giant British bank Barclays has yet to commit to settling, according to people briefed on the matter, even as the window of opportunity closes.

Irish MEP and former Government minister Brian Hayes said today the Central Bank’s plan to require borrowers to have a 20 per cent deposit to get a home loan was “unfair”, and called for cheaper longer term loans to be introduced.

European financial institutions have nearly doubled volumes of riskier debt deals as yield-starved investors are prepared to snap up racier assets in their struggle to generate a return, the Financial Times reported. Issuance of subordinated debt – which would suffer losses during a default before senior debt in a bank’s capital hierarchy – have risen by 80 per cent year on year to $122.4bn so far in 2014 according to Dealogic, the data provider. The year-to-date total is the highest since 2007, before the global financial crisis.

Janet L. Yellen, chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, on Friday praised a recent review of eurozone banks, saying it would help remove doubts about the integrity of the financial system, the International New York Times reported. Some analysts have questioned whether a health check of banks completed last month by the European Central Bank was rigorous enough, but speaking at a conference in Paris, Ms. Yellen appeared to disagree. “The recent comprehensive assessment is an important step toward building confidence,” Ms. Yellen said. Ms.

To reunite Germany, the West German government would set in motion the beginnings of a massive transfusion of financial and social subsidies and within a year make whole a country divided for some 40 years, The Wall Street Journal reported. It required restructuring Europe’s postwar political order to allow for the annexation of a bankrupt state and a collapsing economy, an audacious undertaking that left economists wondering if it could even be done.

Danish bunker supplier OW Bunker announced Thursday, November 6, that two of its major operating subsidiaries were expected to be insolvent and it is seeking court protection, Platt’s reported. The bunker supplier is seeking protection for subsidiaries OW Bunker & Trading and OW Supply & Trading in the probate court in Aalborg, Denmark, the company said in a statement. "For the time being, the financial impact cannot be assessed, however, it must be assumed that the group's equity is lost," the company said.

Euro zone finance ministers will consider three options on Thursday for what happens after Greece exits its bailout at the end of the year, seeking to balance the need to reassure investors with the demands of domestic Greek politics. The Greek government has staked its survival on exiting the bailout a year early, a move that will please voters hammered by austerity measures imposed by the EU and the IMF, but which has already rattled markets, pushing up Greek bond yields.

Bulgaria’s central bank on Thursday revoked the license of one of the country’s biggest lenders and moved to open bankruptcy proceedings, the International New York Times reported. The lender, Corporate Commercial Bank, also known as K.T.B., has been closed since a bank run in June, leaving businesses and consumers without access to about $4 billion in deposits. The move on Thursday halts all activities at the bank and opens the way for the payment of more than half of the deposits — about $2.3 billion, which are insured by the state under European Union law.

Finnish nickel company Talvivaara said a subsidiary that holds all of the group's mining assets will apply for bankruptcy protection after failing to raise financing, Reuters reported. Talvivaara last year halted operations at its sole mine in northern Finland and started a search for investors after a drop in nickel prices, repeated production disruptions and environmental damage. The parent company said on Thursday it would continue to process ore for now while it aimed to secure new financing to buy back mining subsidiary Talvivaara Sotkamo.

The Dutch financial services firm ING Group said on Wednesday that it would make a final repayment six months earlier than expected of the billions of euros in state aid it received during the financial crisis, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. ING, based in Amsterdam, said it planned to make its final payment of 1.03 billion euros, or about $1.29 billion, to the Dutch government on Friday. The lender had expected to pay the final installment in May 2015.