A new scheme that will turn holders of hopelessly distressed mortgages into renters has been unveiled by Minister of State for Housing Jan O'Sullivan, the Irish Times reported. The Mortgage to Rent scheme will allow families remain in their home, but they will have to relinquish ownership of the property. The ownership of the house will be transferred to a housing agency financed by a 70 per cent loan from the original mortgage lender with the remainder coming from the State, which will take a 30 per cent equity stake in the house.

A High Court judge has further continued orders restraining the children of bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn, a nephew, two sons in law and a number of international companies dealing with assets owned or controlled by them worldwide below €50 million each, the Irish Times reported. The Quinn defendants will be allowed up to €8,000 for ordinary living expenses each, subject to approval by solicitors for the former Anglo Irish Bank and receipts being provided by them, until the injunction orders return to court on July 24th, Mr Justice Peter Kelly directed.

Germany may be willing to move sooner than expected to accept shared liability of euro-zone debt and would support short-term measures to deal with the acute financing problems facing some of the region's governments, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal ahead of Thursday's European summit. Mr. Schäuble said Germany could agree to some form of debt mutualization as soon as Berlin is satisfied that the path toward establishing centralized European controls is irreversible.

The eurozone group of nations insisted Wednesday that the rescue loans for Spain’s troubled banks would be channeled through the national government, adding to its sovereign debt. Madrid had petitioned to have it paid directly to the banks to not raise concerns over its public debt, The Washington Post reported on an Associated Press story. A Eurogroup statement said the aid would be given to Spain’s bank restructuring fund, or FROB, and that the Spanish government would “remain fully liable” for it.

When Petroplus went bankrupt early this year, many in the industry thought that at least the Coryton oil refinery in England, the most modern and efficient of its five plants in western Europe, would survive. So far it is the only one to have closed, doomed by the priorities of UK bankruptcy law, the British government's laissez faire approach and strategic calculations by trading houses who saw more opportunities from other refinery assets, Reuters reported.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, the world’s oldest bank, will seek 3.4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) of government money to plug a capital gap uncovered by European regulators, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. “There were no alternatives,” Chief Executive Office Fabrizio Viola said Wednesday at a presentation in Siena. The bank expects to pay a higher interest rate on these securities than the 8.5 percent annual coupon for 2009 aid, Viola said. The government hasn’t set the bond’s terms yet.

Ireland's main mortgage lenders have given some indication of how they plan to engage with the forthcoming personal insolvency legislation, following their attendance at a meeting of the Government’s Economic Management Council on Tuesday night, the Irish Times reported. The meeting was called in advance of the publication of the Personal Insolvency Bill, which aims to address the mortgage arrears issue.

Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, on Tuesday published a significantly scaled-back version of the highly anticipated plan for the future of the eurozone to be debated at a summit meeting this week, the Financial Times reported. The seven-page plan, which calls for progress towards commonly issued eurozone bonds and the eventual establishment of central EU treasury, is less ambitious and less detailed than earlier drafts, including a 10-page version circulated as recently as Monday.

The Cabinet has today approved the publication of the massive Personal Insolvency Bill that will be published on Friday, the Irish Times reported. Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore held a press conference this afternoon disclosing some details of the 200-page document and also announcing a meeting with the main banks tonight on the legislation. Mr Kenny said the legislation when published would give a clear incentive for the banks to sit down with borrowers and work out bilateral agreements for the first time.

Credit Agricole said it would make almost 1.9 billion euros ($2.37 billion) available to French local governments with the help of its insurance arm, which will finance most of the loans through investment funds, Reuters reported. The 1.875 billion euros arrangement is the latest sign of how capital-starved banks are looking to do deals with insurers, many of whom are looking for new ways to invest funds after being hit with a massive drop in investment returns since 2008.