Central banks around the world took major steps Thursday to stave off fears of global recession, with the European Central Bank slashing interest rates, China unexpectedly cutting bank lending rates and the Bank of England pumping billions of pounds into Britain’s stimulus program, The Washington Post reported. The measures reflect a growing sense of international urgency about faltering economies and underline the continued power of central banks to take unilateral measures to fight the crisis, even as elected policymakers haggle over their own long-term responses.

Greece’s new government has dropped a plan to seek softer terms for its second bailout following warnings that it would be rejected by international lenders, the Financial Times reported. Yannis Stournaras, finance minister, said the governing coalition would have to accelerate reforms before asking for modifications in a €174bn programme agreed in February with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. “The programme is off-track and we can’t ask for anything from our creditors before we get it back on course,” Mr Stournaras told the Financial Times.

British lawmakers backed a government plan on Thursday to hold a parliamentary inquiry into the professional and cultural standards of bankers brought into focus by the Barclays rate-rigging scandal that has deeply divided politicians, Reuters reported. They rejected a call by the opposition Labour party for an independent judge-led investigation, along the lines of an existing wide-ranging inquiry into British media standards. Legislators voted 330 to 226 in favor of the parliamentary inquiry, announced by the government on July 2.

More than 21,000 people could make use of the new personal insolvency legislation in its first full year of operation, the Dáil has heard. An estimated 15,000 applications are expected for non-court related settlements and insolvency arrangements as well as upwards of 3,000 bankruptcy applications, the Irish Times reported. There were about 30 bankruptcy decisions made last year. A further 3,000-4,000 applications are anticipated for debt-relief notices, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said.

Six French companies, led by oilseed group Sofiproteol, submitted a joint offer on Thursday for debt-burdened poultry group Doux, which went into administration in early June, threatening 3,400 workers and 800 farmers in France, Reuters reported. Family-owned Doux, one of the world's biggest poultry exporters, has been weighed down by debts of 340 million euros ($423 million) and administrators had launched a call for bids, with a deadline on Thursday ahead of a commercial court hearing on July 16.

Renewable Energy Corp (REC), a Norwegian manufacturer of solar power equipment, has agreed a new bank facility under a restructuring plan as it seeks to survive a global glut of its key products and high raw material costs, Reuters reported. The company, which saw a previous debt restructuring blocked by its bondholders, has raised $218 million in equity and will take up a new 2 billion crown ($335.3 million) bank debt facility, after bondholders failed to approve changes to a bond loan agreement on Tuesday.

European leaders, who last week set an end-year deadline to create a new policeman to oversee euro-zone banks, have set themselves an ambitious timetable that some officials admit they will struggle to meet, The Wall Street Journal reported. The decision will ignite fierce debates about the role of the new supervisor, set off turf battles over who should hold the new powers and raise questions about whether the European Union's single market in financial services can survive.

France’s socialist government announced a big one-off increase in wealth taxes on Wednesday, by far the biggest single element in a €7.2bn package of new levies aimed at meeting this year’s budget deficit target that also included surcharges on banks and energy companies, the Financial Times reported.

Praktiker AG, the struggling German DIY chain, and its major investors struck a compromise late on Wednesday in a last-ditch attempt to stave off bankruptcy, Reuters reported. Fund manager Isabella de Krassny, whose backers held a majority at Praktiker's annual shareholders' meeting on Wednesday, said she was now backing management's restructuring plan after insisting earlier for approval of her own plan. In return, Praktiker bowed to shareholders' demands to replace two supervisory board members with candidates backed by de Krassny.

Members of the Quinn family cannot be trusted to abide by court orders, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) said Wednesday, as it revealed it was seeking the urgent appointment of receivers to the worldwide assets of family members, the Irish Times reported. The bank cited the recent finding of contempt of court orders by Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne against Seán Quinn snr, his son Seán and his nephew Peter Darragh Quinn, and material that emerged in that case.