Britain has blocked plans by state-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland to pay bonuses worth double an employee's fixed salary, adding to the pressure on banks to rein in pay. Banks across Europe have come under fire from the public, shareholders and politicians for extravagantly rewarding staff at a time of austerity that was brought on in part by the reckless lending of some financial groups. British Business Secretary Vince Cable this week wrote to banks and other big companies warning them to cut out excessive rewards or face tighter rules.

Greece’s mountain of debt will decline more slowly than previously expected, the European Commission said in a Friday report, the International New York Times reported. As the country’s recovery from a debilitating recession creeps only slowly ahead, the report said, Greece’s effort to lower its nearly 319 billion euro debt by selling off state assets continues to miss targets.

European banks have been urged to take advantage of favourable market conditions to raise capital before tougher rules on tapping public backstops come into force, the Financial Times reported. Vítor Constâncio, the European Central Bank ’s vice-president, said the current strong appetite among investors to plough money into euro area banks was “reassuring”, amid a series of fundraisings by euro area lenders. However, he urged banks and investors to carefully study new legislation governing the resolution and bail-in powers that will kick in when banks get into serious trouble.

Lenders to the Gherkin, the conical skyscraper that’s one of London’s best-known landmarks, appointed a receiver to take control of the building after years of defaults, Bloomberg News reported. Holders of debt backed by the 30 St. Mary Axe tower in the City of London financial district hired Deloitte LLP after “adverse interest rate and currency movements have caused the total senior liabilities secured by the property to increase materially,” the company said in a statement today. Receivership is similar to U.S. bankruptcy protection.

The special liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation have told the Government they expect the proceeds from the sale of loan portfolios at the defunct institution to exceed the €12.9 billion in IBRC-related debt issued by the State at the time of its winding up last year. As a result there will be no additional taxpayer liability relating to the former Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide above the €34.7 billion that was given to the banks in 2009/10 via share capital and the Anglo promissory note.

Officials in charge of liquidating a pair of failed Irish banks are asking a U.S. bankruptcy judge to sign off on sales involving about EUR15 billion ($20.72 billion) in soured loans, as Ireland continues to dig out from the wreckage of its collapsed property market, The Wall Street Journal reported. Irish Bank Resolution Corp., a state-backed bank liquidation vehicle, is selling the bad loans at a discount to a group of distressed debt buyers, including affiliates of Lone Star Funds, Deutsche Bank Group, and Goldman Sachs. Approval from Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S.

The International Monetary Fund's executive board is tentatively scheduled to consider a $17 billion bailout for Ukraine on April 30, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported. IMF staff are currently verifying Kiev's interim government has met the fund's preconditions for the emergency loan. The expected IMF approval next week would unlock another $10 billion in aid promised by the U.S. and Europe for the beleaguered country.

The Riksbank, the world’s oldest central bank, has become a sadist in its use of monetary policy, according to Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman, Bloomberg News reported. He says the Stockholm-based central bank’s bias toward tight policy during the financial crisis was a “terrible mistake” that now risks creating a Japan-style deflationary spiral. The criticism has the potential to weaken the exchange rate as international investors “question the Swedish economic development,” according to SEB AB, the Nordic region’s biggest currency trader.

An independent Scotland would need the support of the UK Treasury and the Bank of England to prevent savers in its banks being as vulnerable as those who had money in Iceland during the 2008 financial crisis, according to one of the three leading credit rating agencies, The Guardian reported.

The small German airport of Luebeck, near Hamburg, has filed for insolvency and a local court has appointed a preliminary administrator, German media reported on Wednesday. A statement on the website for the airport, which is served by low-cost carriers such as Ryanair, said the around 100 people employed had not received their pay for April. Neither the airport nor the court was immediately available for comment. Some regional airports in Europe are struggling to find customers and make money as smaller carriers increasingly turn to bigger airports to attract passengers.