New bankruptcy legislation aiming to strike a better balance between the rights of debtors and the rights of creditors has been introduced, the BBC reported. The Bankruptcy and Debt Advice (Scotland) Bill 2013 will provide for improved financial advice. It will also ensure that those who "can pay" their debts "should pay". The legislative reform promises to create a more efficient process and allow people to apply for bankruptcy online.

David Cameron’s hopes of agreeing an international deal on fighting tax evasion suffered a blow when Bermuda said it would not commit to a pact before next week’s summit of the Group of Eight leading economies, the Financial Times reported. UK officials fear that if some British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies fail to come into line, it could limit the scope for an ambitious agreement at the summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland.

Romania's biggest power producer, state-owned Hidroelectrica, is likely to exit insolvency on June 26, a year after it was hit by a drought and a string of loss-making contracts, its manager was quoted as saying on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Hidroelectrica was declared insolvent and underwent restructuring largely because of deals under which it sold the bulk of its output for less than market prices, causing losses of $1.4 billion over six years and prompting an investigation by the European Commission.

The top judge at Germany's constitutional court questioned on Wednesday whether the strings attached to any bond purchases by the European Central Bank would be strict enough to protect German taxpayers, The Wall Street Journal reported. On the final day of hearings into the legality of the ECB's main measure for dealing with the euro-zone debt crisis, Andreas Vosskuhle, president of the court, said there were certain promises that can't always be kept.

Austria is seeking "creative" ways to clean up ailing nationalised lender Hypo Alpe Adria, Finance Minister Maria Fekter said on Wednesday, rejecting the option of a "bad bank" that would hit state finances before elections, Reuters reported. She also said she was confident she could get more time from the European Commission for an orderly wind-down of the bank that Austria took over in 2009 and which eked out a small profit last year.

During Spain's economic boom of the past decade, one of its largest gambling enterprises followed the lead of other Spanish corporate heavyweights and piled up debt to expand in Latin America. The wager hasn't paid off, The Wall Street Journal reported. Regulatory setbacks in Mexico and Argentina and a recession that is shrinking its market at home have Codere SA CDR.MC -5.42% scrambling to restructure a growing debt burden.

Greek state TV and radio were gradually pulled off the air late Tuesday, hours after the government said it would temporarily close all state-run broadcasts and lay off about 2,500 workers as part of a cost-cutting drive demanded by the bailed-out country's international creditors, Bloomberg Businessweek reported on an Associated Press story. The conservative-led government said the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp., or ERT, will reopen "as soon as possible" with a new, smaller workforce. It wasn't immediately clear how long that would take, and whether all stations would reopen.

Finland's central bank delivered a stark warning Tuesday that the prolonged euro crisis is beginning to drag the country into the same financial troubles that the Southern Europeans it helped bail out are mired in, The Wall Street Journal reported. Weighed down by weak demand for exports and a decrease in private consumption, Finland's gross domestic product is likely to shrink 0.8% this year, the Bank of Finland said in its biannual economic outlook. That would mark a second-straight annual contraction.

HMV-owner Hilco bought Ireland's largest film and computer game rental retailer Xtra-Vision on Tuesday, potentially saving close to 1,000 jobs after the firm sought protection from its creditors in April, Reuters reported. Restructuring specialist Hilco, which rescued Britain's most high-profile entertainment retailer HMV earlier this year, said it hoped it would be able to keep Xtra-vision's remaining 132 stores open following negotiations with landlords.

The Government has nominated six county registrars for appointment as specialist judges of the Circuit Court, creating a new cadre of judges in a move that has been sharply criticised by the judiciary, the Irish Times reported. The role of specialist judge was created under the Personal Insolvency Act to allow the Circuit Court to deal quickly with insolvency applications.