Greece's parliament approved Thursday legislation to implement a massive EUR100 billion debt writedown for the country even as Athens sprinted to push through further reforms needed to secure a fresh bailout from its international creditors, Dow Jones reported. Passage of the legislation, which includes a controversial measure to strong-arm investors into the deal, clears the way for Greece to formally launch its long-awaited debt-restructuring program Friday.

European banks could face more pressure from regulators and politicians worried that big cuts in bonuses have barely dented a high-pay culture sustained by massive hikes in base salaries, Reuters reported. A string of banks have grabbed headlines with big reductions in handouts to staff for 2011. Royal Bank of Scotland, 82 percent state-owned after a government bailout, is to cut its bonus payouts for 2011 by 58 percent. French bank Credit Agricole will lower trader bonuses by 20 percent and larger rivals BNP Paribas and Societe Generale have pledged cuts of 50 percent.

The European Commission expects Greece, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands to be Europe’s weakest economies in 2012. Wait a minute. The Netherlands? That stalwart of the euro zone? The same Netherlands that’s lending billions of euros to Greece, Portugal and Ireland? Yes indeed: The commission on Thursday said it expects the Dutch economy to contract 0.9% this year, the lowest growth rate in the 27-nation European Union apart from Greece, Portugal and Spain, The Wall Street Journal Real Time Brussels blog reported.

A significant Commercial Court ruling today means the family of bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn could avoid liability for loans of up to €2.34 billion if they prove claims Anglo Irish Bank made those loans to various Quinn companies for the unlawful purpose of supporting the bank's share price, the Irish Times reported. Legal sources believe the decision by Mr Justice Peter Charleton could have consequences for other cases.

The European Commission proposed Wednesday to suspend €495 million ($602.2 million) in European Union budget funds for Hungary in 2013 unless it acts quickly to cut its deficit, The Wall Street Journal reported. Hungary's government found the suspension proposal unfounded, unfair and legally disputable, saying it has already taken prudent steps, while an economy ministry official said there was no "practical chance" that the funds would be suspended.

State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to pay out up to 400 million pounds in bonuses to its corporate banking staff as it gets ready to unveil a full-year loss forecast at up to 1.2 billion pounds on Thursday, Reuters reported. The move is expected to increase anger that the bank is still paying large salaries while thousands, including more than 30,000 layoffs at the bank in the last three years, lose their jobs in a weakening global economy.

The German government is set to resist or delay increasing the size of the eurozone’s financial “firewall” against contagion from the Greek debt crisis, in the face of mounting pressure from its partners, the International Monetary Fund and the US administration, the Financial Times reported. Steffen Seibert, spokesman for Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, insisted on Wednesday that Berlin saw no need to increase the size of the permanent €500bn European Stability Mechanism. “The German government’s position has not changed,” he said.

The long-awaited deal on a rescue plan for Greece still leaves Athens with a huge debt burden and implementation challenges that threaten to derail the program and prevent the country's return to growth after several years of a devastating recession that has spurred social upheaval and political uncertainty, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The High Court has begun hearing a challenge by Treasury Holdings against the National Assets Management Agency’s decision to appoint receivers to some of its property assets in Ireland, the Irish Times reported. The court was told today the agency made a “dramatic” decision last December to proceed with appointing receivers over assets of various Treasury Holdings companies without telling the developer which was then in advanced negotiations with investors.

The European Central Bank wants its second offer of cheap ultra-long funds next week to be its last, putting the onus back on governments to secure the euro zone's longer-term future, Reuters reported. Powerful members of the central bank's 23-man governing council are privately hoping demand at the February 29 auction will fall well short of the 1 trillion euros (837.8 billion pounds) some expect, backing their view that it should be the last.