British bank Barclays PLC unveiled plans Tuesday to increase its capital levels by nearly $20 billion, one of the boldest recent attempts by a European bank to put to rest questions about its financial strength, The Wall Street Journal reported. Even as Barclays addressed one of regulators' main concerns about the bank, however, a new problem emerged: A British regulatory agency is planning an enforcement action against the bank over a 2008 fundraising deal with Qatari investors, people familiar with the probe said.

The insolvency administrators of German DIY store chain Praktiker have stepped up the search for an investor by appointing Macquarie as advisor, they said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The administrators hope that by finding an investor they can secure as many jobs and stores as possible at the group, which has around 20,000 full and part-time employees. The group filed for insolvency earlier this month for the Praktiker-branded units, but spared its more successful Max Bahr chain.

The European Union on Tuesday gave approval to a financial guarantee from the French state for PSA Peugeot Citroën's in-house banking unit, saying the aid is essential to help the ailing auto maker return to health, The Wall Street Journal reported. Apart from the loan guarantee, the move gives Peugeot a vote of confidence for a restructuring plan made necessary by the collapse of the European auto market.

The Bank of Italy is quietly inspecting the finances of some of the country's top lenders, which could push some Italian banks to sell assets or take other major steps, according to a central-bank document reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The central bank's examinations, which were previously undisclosed, come against a backdrop of increasing worry among regulators, investors and bank executives about the health of some of the country's lenders amid a rise in souring loans.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved a further 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion) in funds for Greece's bailout program after completing the fourth review of the cash-strapped euro zone state, Reuters reported. Greece last week adopted the last piece of legislation its international lenders required to release the next batch of rescue loans, after two months of wrangling over unpopular measures to overhaul the economy. The total funds from the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank comprise 5.8 billion euros.

Personal loans in Russia have reached almost $275bn during the past two years as people take up to 5 loans per person. Some Russian cities see 100% of the economically active population taking out loans, RT.com reported. Russia risks seeing a retail credit default, business daily Vedomosti quotes research by Svyaznoj Bank that examined data from the country’s two biggest credit agencies NBCH and Equifax. The bank studied the credit history of people applying for loans and called the results of the study "depressing", Vedomosti quotes the bank representative.

Seán Dunne’s adjudication as a bankrupt in Ireland marks the culmination in a five-month legal effort by one of his biggest lenders, Ulster Bank. The court’s ruling makes Dunne unique among the many former high-flying players of the boom-time property market – he is now bankrupt in two countries: Ireland, where he racked up debts of more than €700 million, and the United States, where he has lived for three years and is trying to start anew, the Irish Times reported.

HM Treasury has proposed applying bank insolvency to credit unions, warning a lack of formal legislation for winding up credit unions poses significant risks as currently “considerable intervention” is needed from the regulators, FT Adviser reported. In a new consultation paper, Industrial and provident societies: growth through co-operation, the government is seeking views on the merits of applying bank solvency rules in the Banking Act 2009 to credit unions.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Europe must keep up pressure on Greece to stand by its austerity pledges as he rejected the notion that the upcoming election has put debt-crisis management on hold, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Greece’s progress will continue to be monitored after euro-area governments last week approved the latest bailout transfer to keep the government in Athens funded through the Sept. 22 election in Germany. German lawmakers have until noon tomorrow to raise objections to the latest Greek tranche.

As many as 4,000 jobs could be lost at German home improvement retailer Praktiker and its Max Bahr chain following insolvency filings, Bild reported on Saturday, citing the group's deputy board chairman, Reuters reported. "That's a shocking number," the newspaper quoted deputy supervisory board chairman Ulrich Kruse as saying. About a dozen Praktiker stores could shortly be closed, mainly shops that were about to be converted to the Max Bahr brand which traditionally had better profit margins, Wirtschaftswoche reported, without citing the source of the information.