Eurozone banks need a fundamental overhaul of their business models, the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday, saying lenders were still not in a position to be “athletes” supporting economic recovery six years after the financial crisis, the Financial Times reported. In its twice-yearly Global Financial Stability Report, the fund said banks in the single currency area needed to increase the cost of some of their lending and might have to retrench further than they had already to be in the position to support business investment.

Two independent directors on the board that oversees HSBC’s British business may leave the bank over stricter rules aimed at holding bankers more accountable for reckless actions that may lead to the failure of a lender, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. Alan Thomson, a member of the audit and risk committees at HSBC Bank, has tendered his resignation and will leave the bank later this month, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

R3 has called for reforms to legal funding for insolvency cases, returning money from rogue directors to creditors, the treatment of small business creditors in football insolvencies, the government's approach to being a creditor in insolvencies and a comprehensive update of the personal insolvency regime, Accountancy Age reported. Every year, £160m is returned to creditors (mainly small businesses and HMRC) as a result of legal action against directors of insolvent companies who have wrongly, negligently, or fraudulently taken creditors' money.

A former senior banker at a leading British bank became the first person in Britain to plead guilty to a criminal charge in a continuing inquiry into the manipulation of a global benchmark interest rate, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. The former banker pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to defraud in connection with manipulating the London interbank offered rate, or Libor.

The European Central Bank has raised concerns over legal changes in several countries that allow banks to continue using tax assets to boost their capital buffers, a practice that was meant to be phased out under new European Union rules, The Wall Street Journal reported. The ECB worries that the changes in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece expose taxpayers in those countries to risks in case the banks run into trouble in coming years.

The largest global banks will have to hold more capital and liabilities than previously reported that can automatically be written off in a crisis -- as much as a quarter of risk-weighted assets -- as regulators take on lenders deemed too big to fail. The Financial Stability Board is developing minimum standards that will limit the double-counting of capital banks use to meet existing international rules, according to an FSB working document sent for comment to Group of 20 governments and obtained by Bloomberg News.

Consumers will face new restrictions in January on the amount of money they can borrow to buy a house or apartment as the Central Bank moves to damp down the property market, the Irish Times reported. As values recover rapidly in Dublin, the Central Bank’s intervention is seen as an effort to prevent the risk of a new price bubble by placing limits on the amount of money banks can lend for mortgages. The Central Bank will set out proposals today to impose new loan-to-value limits on mortgage lending, as well as loan-to-income caps.

The International Monetary Fund Monday backed a gradual exchange of government bonds around the world with new contracts to counter risks that holdout creditors could disrupt potential debt restructurings, The Wall Street Journal reported. The IMF, along with some investors and economists, have warned that U.S. legal rulings that forced Argentina’s hand in a long battle with holdout creditors could imperil other debt operations because they give a small minority outsized power.

Greece’s creditors insist the country should retain access to bailout funds next year even as the government seeks an almost-balanced budget for the first time in decades, two officials with knowledge of the matter said, Bloomberg News reported. The country’s budget deficit will shrink to 338 million euros ($424 million) next year, or 0.2 percent of gross domestic product, from 1.41 billion euros, or 0.8 percent of GDP, this year, according to the 2015 draft budget, which was submitted to parliament today.

Euro Disney has agreed a €1 billion funding deal backed by its largest shareholder, the Walt Disney, which includes a share sale and a debt restructuring, to allow it to invest in the business, the Irish Times reported. Euro Disney, the entertainment resort based in an eastern suburb of Paris, is 40 per cent owned by parent Walt Disney (DIS.N) and 10 per cent by the Saudi prince AlWaleed bin Talal. As part of the offer Walt Disney would be required to launch a tender offer on Euro Disney shares.