A new report released by the European Commission late last week underlines the devastating consequences of the financial crisis on youth employment, and acknowledged the difficulty in implementing policies to alleviate this crisis as the European Union focuses on austerity, The Wall Street Journal Real Time Brussels blog reported. “Young people remain the hardest hit by the crisis and its aftermath,” says the report, and the faltering recovery is expected to make things worse.

The foundation that owns 49 percent of Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena said on Monday it had reached two debt standstill agreements with its own lenders as it tries to keep control of Italy's third-largest bank, Reuters reported. The foundation is expected to sell assets as part of a debt restructuring deal, with the sale of a stake of 10-15 percent in Monte Paschi seen as one possibility.

Saab Automobile filed for bankruptcy on Monday, giving up a desperate struggle to stay in business after previous owner General Motors Co. blocked takeover attempts by Chinese investors, the Associated Press reported. Saab CEO Victor Muller personally handed in the bankruptcy application to a court in southwestern Sweden, ending his two-year effort to revive the carmaker that over more than six decades has become known for its rounded sedans and quirky design features.

Dutch primary aluminium producer ZALCO is looking for a buyer to restart its plant, which was shut on Friday due to lack of funds after the company filed for bankruptcy last week, an official receiver said, Reuters reported. "The company filed for bankruptcy last Tuesday, and on Friday we decided to shut down the plant due to lack of funds; we couldn't pay the energy bills," Ernst Butterman, one of the two official receivers, told Reuters in a phone interview on Monday.

Former billionaire Seán Quinn should have his Northern Ireland bankruptcy annulled because he did not make a full disclosure when he applied for it in November, it was claimed in the High Court in Belfast yesterday, the Irish Times reported. The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (or IBRC – formerly Anglo Irish Bank), also claimed that Mr Quinn’s “centre of main interests” was not in Co Fermanagh as he had said when making his ex parte application in November, but rather was in Co Cavan.

Governments in Europe are tying themselves in knots to prop up their banks, desperate to blunt the cost and embarrassment of a fresh wave of taxpayer-funded bailouts, The Wall Street Journal reported. In Italy, for example, the government is encouraging banks to buy public properties that the banks then can use to borrow money. As part of a broader deficit-reduction program in Portugal, the government essentially is borrowing money from bank pension funds and could use some of the funds to help state-owned companies repay bank loans.

The government should clarify responsibilities and strengthen oversight over the new, powerful regulators in its sweeping overhaul of the country's regulatory system, a key parliamentary committee said on Monday, Reuters reported. However, the joint committee looking into the draft Financial Services Bill, which will make the Bank of England the key player in the regulation of the country's financial sector, backed regulators' call for more discretionary powers to avoid the shortfalls of a fully rule-based regulation approach.

Private creditors are balking in talks about forgiving €100 billion ($130 billion) in Greek debts, European officials warned Friday, just as negotiations heated up on the debt restructuring that aims to save Athens from bankruptcy, The Washington Post reported on an Associated Press story. European and Greek negotiators met with representatives from banks and investment funds Friday in Paris, after holding talks earlier this week in Athens.

Britain is to propose stricter rules for mortgage lending that aim to prevent a recurrence of irresponsible practices -- such as "liar loans" -- that led to the global financial crisis, Reuters reported. The UK financial watchdog -- the Financial Services Authority -- will discuss these proposals with banks and other lenders in a consultation that follows on from initial plans the FSA put forward in July to tighten up mortgage regulation.

The European Union and the International Monetary Fund broke off preliminary talks Friday with Hungary on a financial aid package because of concerns that the government aimed to curtail the independence of the country's central bank, the Associated Press reported. Hungary said last month it would seek to work out a deal for unspecified aid from the IMF and the EU, a "security net" to reassure investors about its creditworthiness and financial stability.