The High Court has confirmed an examiner to B&Q Ireland Ltd, which operates nine home improvement stores employing 690 people, of whom 500 are part-time workers, the Irish Times reported. As part of further cost-cutting proposals, the company’s two stores in Athlone and Waterford would close with the “regrettable” loss of 92 jobs, Mr Justice Peter Kelly noted. A key ingredient for the survival of some of the company’s other stores includes renegotiation of what he described as “extraordinary” rents.

A plan to close international tax loopholes was outlined on Tuesday by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which warned that a failure to take action against profit shifting by multinationals would put “the integrity of the corporate income tax” at stake, the Financial Times reported.

Monte dei Paschi pumped up its bid for Antonveneta to trump a rival offer from France's BNP Paribas, paving the way for an eventual state bailout of the world's oldest bank and a political furore in Italy over its finances. The new disclosure comes in a report by Italy's financial police and is based on statements from an adviser to the seller, Spain's Santander. Reviewed by Reuters, the document reveals for the first time why Monte dei Paschi may have offered such a high bid for its smaller Padua-based rival and why it did not conduct any due diligence before agreeing the deal.

Everybody seemed to be talking about monetary financing of debt last week – the ultimate taboo in monetary policy. And hidden behind a veil of unbelievable complexity, the eurozone may have done just that, the Financial Times reported. Various European central bankers rushed to proclaim that the agreed rescheduling of Ireland’s so-called promissory notes would not set a precedent for sovereign debt laundering. In legal terms, the agreement is probably watertight. It may be a borderline issue, but who cares? In economic terms, the situation is much clearer.

German do-it-yourself chain Praktiker AG is closing its stores in Turkey and withdrawing from the country after failing to sell the nine stores its operates there, Reuters reported. The company, which is battling to return to profit, said on Monday its Turkish subsidiary filed for managed insolvency proceedings with an Istanbul court earlier in the day. "We cannot afford a persistent loss-maker like Turkey.

Euro zone finance ministers meeting in Brussels will discuss the workings of the euro zone’s rescue fund, the ESM, though any discussion on its application to AIB and Bank of Ireland is likely to be some months away, the Irish Times reported. While the issue of legacy assets was discussed by euro zone finance ministers last month, senior EU sources have indicated the issue has been put on the back burner, and serious consideration of the question of retrospective recapitalisation will not be on the agenda until April at the earliest.

Banks in the European Union may need to comply with an international liquidity rule before competitors in other parts of the globe as part of a deal on how the bloc should implement Basel banking standards. Nations are weighing calls from the European Parliament for an “accelerated” introduction of the so-called liquidity coverage ratio, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News. Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, is pressing for an agreement to have the rule take full effect on Jan.

Financial benefits resulting from the agreement on bank debt does not necessarily equate to an alleviation of austerity, the secretary general of the Department of Finance has suggested. John Moran said that breathing space created by last week’s deal provided the Government with options for forthcoming budgets. But it does not automatically mean a dramatic shift in the State’s approach towards reducing the deficit, the Irish Times reported. “You basically have a choice with respect to the money that you are no longer spending,” he said.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said on Thursday that a new schedule for repaying debts incurred in support of the country's stricken banks will reduce his government's borrowing needs over the next decade and cut its budget deficit by €1 billion ($1.35 billion) a year, The Wall Street Journal reported. He told lawmakers that under a plan that had been discussed with the European Central Bank, the government will exchange new bonds with maturities of as long as 40 years for existing promissory notes with an average duration of between seven and eight years.

Liquidators will be appointed to the Irish Bank Resolution Corp, following the introduction of emergency legislation in the Dáil shortly after midnight by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, the Irish Times reported. The legislation was drafted as part of a deal with the European Central Bank (ECB) that will result in a major improvement in the terms of Ireland's bank debt. The ECB's governing council will discuss the deal today at its monthly meeting in Frankfurt.