Three former Anglo Irish Bank directors were aware of a “choreographed” and “absolutely illegal” scheme to fund the buying of shares in the bank, the jury was told on the opening day of the bankers’ trial yesterday, the Irish Times reported. Seán FitzPatrick (65), William McAteer (63) and Pat Whelan (51) are accused of providing unlawful financial assistance to members of businessman Seán Quinn’s family and the so-called Maple 10, a trusted group of Anglo borrowers, to buy shares in Anglo in July 2008.

Hopes that Punch Taverns might finally be able to put its debt woes behind it appeared to be dashed on Wednesday as lenders to the pubs group dismissed a financial restructuring plan as “unsignable” and “flawed”. Bondholders reacted angrily to a last minute plea by Stephen Billingham, the executive chairman of Punch Taverns, to back a deal to restructure the group’s £2.3bn debt pile, which will be put to the vote next Friday. Punch, which is the second biggest pub landlord in the UK with some 4,000 properties, last month published a final proposal to solve the group’s complex debt problems.

The European Commission’s proposals to extend cross-border insolvencies to rescue proceedings has received backing from the European Parliament today, with 580 votes in support, Insolvency News reported. The proposed changes received only 69 votes in opposition and 19 abstentions. As the proposal has been approved by one of the European Union’s two co-legislators, the focus will shift to the member states in the Council to reach an agreement on the draft law along with the European Parliament for it to enter the EU’s statute book.

AIB is set to write off debt immediately for homeowners in arrears who are deemed eligible for a new split mortgage product, the Irish Times reported. Under the plan disclosed last night, a customer deemed eligible for a split mortgage will have the loan broken into two tranches. The first part, which the customer will be expected to repay, will be based on the current market value of their home, while the other will be warehoused, interest free, for settlement at a later date.

Christie's has withdrawn 85 artworks by Spanish surrealist Joan Miró from its auctions in London this week, after an uproar in Portugal over the government's move to sell the works in an attempt to cut its debt, The Wall Street Journal reported. The decision, announced on Tuesday just hours before the Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist evening sale, represents a blow to Portugal's coffers—as well as an embarrassment for one of the world's largest auction houses during the most important time of year for the London art market.

Greek state-owned armoured vehicle maker Hellenic Vehicles Industry S.A. (ELVO) has gone into receivership, after years of losses, following a ruling by the Thessaloniki Court of Appeals on 30 January, IHS Jane’s 360 reported. The decision follows a petition by the Greek State to apply article 14A of Law 3249/2005 and place the company in special receivership. ELVO has recorded aggregate losses of EUR100 million in 2006-13 and owes EUR48 million to suppliers and banks.

Hibu, the Reading-based Yellow Pages company, has placed six US subsidiaries into Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection as the firm attempts to restructure its overseas operations, following the firm’s UK restructuring which started last month, IT Pro Portal reported. Hibu filed with the US Bankruptcy Court in New York, listing over $1 billion (£600 million) in assets and liabilities. Just over half of Hibu’s revenue comes from the US, where it operates the “Yellowbook” (the US version of the Yellow Pages directory) across most states. The firm employs almost 5,000 personnel in America.

The European Central Bank on Monday defended the credibility of its continuing bank review and impending bank stress test, saying they strike the right balance between being tough and protecting the fragile euro-zone recovery, The Wall Street Journal reported. "Preparations for the stress test are well under way and we are confident that, in close coordination with the European Banking Authority, the outcome will be transparent and credible, boosting the European banking sector," said Vitor Constâncio, vice president of the ECB.

Several possible investors have expressed their interest in German insolvent bookseller Weltbild, a spokesman for its insolvency administrator said, Reuters reported. It was not yet clear how many of them would decide to do due diligence of Weltbild, he said on Monday. Weltbild, owned by the Roman Catholic Church, filed for insolvency last month after failing to keep up with competition from internet-based rivals such as Amazon.com and to obtain new financing.

Austria should at least consider allowing troubled lender Hypo Alpe Adria to go bust, a prominent economist said on Monday, opposing the official line in an increasingly heated debate about how to handle the nationalised bank, Reuters reported. The government, central bank and a special Hypo task force have warned that a Hypo insolvency might trigger a chain reaction that could suck in other banks and ruin Austria's reputation on international capital markets. Austria took over Hypo in 2009 after the bank's breakneck expansion pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy.