Lenders to UK waste management firm Biffa will take the keys from its private equity owners in a restructuring that will cut its 1.1 billion pound ($1.8 billion) debt pile by 55 percent, Reuters reported. Montagu Private Equity and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), which bought Biffa in 2008, backed by 1.1 billion pounds of debt, unsuccessfully tried to sell the business this year. As part of the restructuring, Biffa's existing debt will be reduced to 520 million pounds, the company said on Thursday.

British house prices were flat month-on-month in November and they are likely to stay that way or edge slightly lower over the next year, mortgage lender Nationwide said today, the Irish Times reported. The average UK house price stands at £163,853, showing a 1.2 per cent decline on a year ago and prices have been dropping on an annual basis for nine months in a row, Nationwide said. The 0 per cent month-on-month change in November follows a small 0.6 per cent monthly increase recorded by the study in October.

MF Global UK's administrator KPMG has recovered more than $2.5 billion of the $4 billion of claims it expects from the defunct broker's British clients and creditors, Reuters reported. KPMG said in an emailed statement that it has recovered $1.6 billion for general creditors' claims against the broker and $923 million for clients. "We have seen some substantial progress made since our last progress report six months ago," said KPMG's Richard Heis, who pointed out that the sum recovered for general claims had doubled over the past six months.

Greece took the first steps Thursday to pay off billions of euros in arrears to private-sector companies and individuals—some dating back several years—once it receives its next cash infusion from its international creditors, The Wall Street Journal reported. Greece's pension funds and health services are likely to be paid off first in a move that is expected to inject cash and boost consumption in the liquidity-starved economy, Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said Thursday during a presentation of a list of suppliers and individuals that require repayment.

Ireland's new insolvency regime may push losses at participating banks higher in the short term but the laws are an important part of resolving the crisis in the sector, the central bank said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. In response to growing arrears among homeowners and outdated bankruptcy laws, Ireland has proposed new non-judicial routes for struggling mortgage holders to settle both unsecured and secured debts of up to 3 million euros ($3.9 million). The new laws are being passed through parliament and set to be introduced early next year.

European Union regulators gave the green light to €37 billion ($47.9 billion) in euro-zone funding for Spain's stricken banking sector on Wednesday, setting in motion a long-term cleanup, The Wall Street Journal reported. In exchange, four nationalized banks agreed to make sharp cuts in their balance sheets and payrolls—a retrenchment that carries the risk of intensifying Spain's credit crunch in the midst of a deep recession.

The board of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA on Wednesday approved the bank's request for more government funds than planned, which will likely lead to the government taking a larger stake in the Italian bank, The Wall Street Journal reported. The bank will issue €3.9 billion ($5.05 billion)—about €500 million more than originally planned—in bonds that the government will underwrite, with the condition that the coupon attached to them will be converted into shares if the bank ends the year with a net loss.

Kuwaiti firm Global Investment House’s decision to use the UK courts could set a new precedent for debt restructuring in the Gulf as the company bypasses Kuwaiti law to push through its second debt deal in three years, the Financial Times reported. The Gulf company is the first to try to use a London court “scheme” to force a minority of creditors to accept the terms of its new $1.7bn restructuring plan, which aims to grant creditors a 70 per cent stake in the investment company.

Eurozone governments could be forced to accept losses on their rescue loans to Greece after Monday’s late-night deal to overhaul its bailout failed to agree how to reach new debt targets for the struggling country, according to documents seen by the Financial Times. After three gatherings in two weeks, eurozone finance ministers agreed to release a long-delayed €34.4bn aid payment to Athens. But the series of measures agreed, which could relieve Greece of billions of euros in debt by the end of the decade, do not go far enough.

European Union countries and the European Parliament agreed today to introduce limited controls on credit ratings agencies after their judgment was called into question in the debt crisis, the Irish Times reported. Michel Barnier, the European commissioner in charge of regulation who helped broker a deal on the new law, said it aimed to reduce the over-reliance on ratings and establish a civil liability regime. The new rules should make it easier to sue the agencies if they are judged to have made errors when, for example, ranking the creditworthiness of debt.