The cost to pension industry of the Bank of England's latest round of quantitative easing could total 90 billion pounds ($141 billion), diverting company cash away from investment in the economy in order to plug retirement fund deficits, the industry warned on Thursday, Reuters reported. Quantitative easing (QE) depresses the yield on government bonds, known as gilts, a staple investment for pensions funds, making it more expensive to pay for future liabilities, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) said.

Greece moved a step closer to completing its debt restructuring when a raft of bondholders pledged to participate in the swap, likely enabling the troubled nation to force the deal through, The Wall Street Journal reported. As of late Wednesday, about 52% of the €206 billion ($270.9 billion) in bonds up for restructuring had been pledged. Portuguese and U.K. banks, as well as Italian insurance companies added their names to the list of holders agreeing to the swap, as did Greek pension funds holding €19 billion of Greek debt.

China intends to extend renminbi loans to other Brics nations, in another step towards the internationalisation of its currency, the Financial Times reported. The China Development Bank will sign a memorandum of understanding in New Delhi with its Brazilian, Russian, Indian and South African counterparts on March 29, say people familiar with their talks. Under the agreement CDB, which lends mainly in dollars overseas, will make renminbi loans available, while the other Brics nations’ development banks will also extend loans denominated in their respective currencies.

A decision from the European Union's highest court has called into question the tough downsizings imposed on many of the region's banks as the price of approval for the giant government bailouts they received during the financial crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. The ruling, issued last week by the European Union Court of Justice, said the EU misstepped and ultimately overreached in settlement talks with the Netherlands over the Dutch bank and insurance group ING Groep NV.

Greece has threatened to default on any of its bondholders who do not take part in a €206bn debt restructuring that officials believe is key to returning Athens to solvency, a move that turns up the heat on potential holdouts ahead of a deadline on Thursday, the Financial Times reported. The Greek public debt management agency said in a statement Athens “does not contemplate the availability of funds” to pay private investors who hold onto their bonds once the restructuring occurs.

Spain's centre-right government moved today to head off any potential rebellion by the country's 17 autonomous regions over cost-cutting measures that are key to retaining credibility with its euro zone peers and financial markets, the Irish Times reported. Finance minister Cristobal Montoro was scheduled to meet with the financial heads from all of the regions later today to drive home the message of austerity.

Iceland's former central bank chief had warned about the country's over-sized banks before they went bust in 2008, he said on Tuesday at the trial of a former prime minister for failing to prevent the crisis, Reuters reported. David Oddsson was speaking on the second day of witness hearings at the trial of Geir Haarde, the only political leader to face prosecution over the crisis that hit the world economy. He has denied the charges. Iceland's top three banks all collapsed in late 2008 after years of debt-fuelled expansion.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday offered plans to create a minimum tax on profit of large companies if re-elected for a second term in elections this spring, The Wall Street Journal reported. Mr. Sarkozy, who is trailing challenger Socialist candidate François Hollande in polls, made the comments as the election campaign heats up. and the two front-runners seek to gain traction. Mr. Hollande proposed a tax of a different nature last week: a special 75% tax bracket on France's wealthiest individuals that was well received by voters. Mr.

The European Central Bank’s balance sheet surged to a record 3.02 trillion euros ($3.96 trillion) last week, 31 percent bigger than the German economy, after a second tranche of three-year loans, Bloomberg reported. Lending to euro-area banks jumped 310.7 billion euros to 1.13 trillion euros in the week ended March 2, the Frankfurt-based ECB said in a statement today. The balance sheet gained 330.6 billion euros in the week. It is now more than a third bigger than the U.S.

Twelve financial institutions representing a significant chunk of outstanding Greek bonds held by private lenders have agreed to participate in the voluntary Greek debt swap set to conclude Thursday, according to a statement Monday from the Institute of International Finance, an industry group, The Wall Street Journal reported. The banks and funds all sit on the steering committee that negotiated the terms of the Greek debt restructuring under the auspices of the IIF, which represents some 450 financial institutions.