Greece’s highest legal body is expected to demand a reversal of salary cuts for the country’s security services imposed as part of a second €172bn international bailout in a move that could derail this year’s budget and lead to similar claims by other groups of public sector workers, the Financial Times reported. A decision by the council of state leaked to Athens lawyers and local media ahead of its official publication rules that the cuts were unconstitutional and should be fully reimbursed, according to a person with knowledge of the procedures.

When Europe’s most powerful finance minister makes an unscheduled trip to Brussels to meet a handful of European lawmakers, you can be sure that something is amiss, The Wall Street Journal Real Time Brussels blog reported. And indeed, Wolfgang Schäuble’s unusual pilgrimage to Belgium on Monday comes at another tricky juncture for the euro zone: Its much-vaunted banking-union project, billed as the ticket out of its five-year-old financial crisis, is at risk of stalling, amid opposition from the European Parliament to elements of a new system for wind down failing banks.

The creditors of liquidated stockbroking firm Bloxham could get 40 per cent of what they are owed, rather than 10 per cent, if the liquidator wins his challenge to the Irish Stock Exchange’s decision to revoke its membership, the High Court has heard. The firm’s largest creditors include National Irish Bank, owed €8.5 million, and the Revenue Commissioners, owed €2.3 million, the Irish Times reported.

The accounting watchdog has joined a long list of investigators examining the near collapse of the Co-operative Bank as it launched a review into KPMG’s auditing of the lender’s accounts, the Financial Times reported. The formal investigation by the Financial Reporting Council, which has the power to fine and suspend accountants, will examine the bank’s financial reports in the years leading up to the exposure of a £1.5bn capital shortfall last May.

The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) last night announced a new tender for servicing any remaining IBRC commercial loans not sold by Anglo Irish Bank’s special liquidator KPMG, the Irish Times reported. In July 2013, Certus, the largest bank services outsourcing company in Ireland, was named as the preferred bidder to manage these loans, which then stood at €22 billion. Certus said at the time it expected to create up to 300 new jobs as a result. However, the success of the KPMG sale process has fundamentally changed the proposed contract.

Insolvency trade body R3 have put forward new proposals regarding current bankruptcy procedures, including extending the standard bankruptcy terms from one year to three, Insolvency News reported. In a new report, R3 have called for the reform of personal insolvency procedures to provide better protection to creditor and debtors alike, as “thousands of indebted individuals struggle to access a debt relief solution that is suitable for their needs”.

German wind park operator Prokon said it had to stop interest payments and would not for now redeem the millions of euros worth of so-called profit-sharing certificates sold to mainly retail investors, as too many were demanding their money back, Reuters reported. "In the current situation we are unable to make repayments or interest payouts," the group's managing director Carsten Rodbertus said in a statement on the group's website on Friday, addressing its 75,000 certificate holders.

Europe’s landmark deal to establish a common €55bn fund to rescue troubled banks is facing a concerted legal challenge from the European Parliament, which argues the German designed side-pact breaches fundamental EU law, the Financial Times reported. Lawmakers said in a letter sent to the EU’s rotating presidency that the intergovernmental agreement on the banking union resolution fund is illegal because it bypasses the established legislative processes of the union.

Troubled building group Siac’s main shareholders, the Feighery family, will take control of the business with the backing of a French-owned construction-related business and a private investment company, it was confirmed yesterday, the Irish Times reported. The High Court appointed Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton as examiner to Siac Construction and eight related companies late last year, giving them protection from creditors, including three banks owed €42 million and suppliers owed €26 million.

Around 30,000 Romanian companies entered insolvency last year, up 10 percent on 2012. Over a third of the newly insolvent ones were retail companies, according to Trade Registry data, Romania-Insider.com reported. December saw the start of insolvency procedures for 2,400 companies, down on 3,500 in November and 3,300 in October. Most insolvencies were recorded in Bucharest – 3,700, up 5.4 percent on 2012 – and Bihor, with 1,800 insolvencies, a 40 percent growth on 2012. The smallest number of insolvencies was recorded in Calarasi – only 217 cases, and Olt – 244 cases.