NAMA has revealed it would be prepared to sell a small number of assets below what it paid for them -- in a "tactical" attempt to get the property market moving, Independent.ie reported. However, the agency said reports that it would accept discounts of 10pc were "factually incorrect". The agency was responding to a suggestion on a NAMA-related blog that it was prepared to live with a 10pc drop on the prices it paid banks for the assets. The comments about a 10pc markdown were attributed to a senior NAMA executive, John Mulcahy.

European leaders were frustrated Tuesday in their efforts to craft a response to the continent’s debt crisis one day before a self-imposed deadline, while a political stalemate in Italy over austerity measures further diminished hopes for a quick resolution, The Washington Post reported. As top European officials prepared to return to Brussels on Wednesday for their second summit this week on the crisis, they sent conflicting signals about how much progress they had made on key elements of a rescue plan.

European negotiators have asked Greek debt holders to accept a 60 per cent cut in the face value of their bonds, a hardline stance that far exceeds losses agreed in a deal between private investors and eurozone authorities three months ago, the Financial Times reported. The stance, delivered to a consortium of international banks at the weekend by Vittorio Grilli, Italian treasury chief and lead eurozone negotiator, is a victory for German-led northern creditor countries who have been pushing for Greek bondholders to accept far more of the burden for a second bail-out.

The warning signals for Europe's economy are flashing red, but the uncomfortable truth for policymakers is that a restoration of solid growth is hostage to a lasting solution to the euro zone's debt crisis, Reuters reported in an analysis. After another weekend of summiteering in Brussels, the European Union seems no closer to breaking out of a vicious cycle of growth-dampening austerity leading to deeper deficit holes that in turn trigger demands for fresh belt-tightening.

Troubled Swedish car maker Saab Automobile AB edged closer to bankruptcy after it said it had terminated rescue funding agreements with Chinese auto makers Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. and Pang Da Automobile Trade Co., though the three companies remained in talks, The Wall Street Journal reported. Saab is restructuring its operations under creditor protection and is trying to avoid being closed, after the administrator of the restructuring process on Friday moved to have the company thrown out of receivership and declared insolvent.

Most of the money held in trust for two customers at a separate firm run by investment manager Harry Cassidy was used to meet property debts of his failed investment firm, Custom House Capital, the Irish Times reported. According to the report by two Central Bank inspectors, Mr Cassidy, the chief executive of CHC, said he managed “€7 million or €8 million” in client trusts through a firm called ARF Management.

Parliament rejected a call for a referendum on leaving the European Union on Monday, but a large-scale revolt against Prime Minister David Cameron hurt his authority and cast doubt on the country's long-term commitment to Europe, Reuters reported. Around 80 members of Cameron's Conservative Party -- more than a quarter of the total -- defied their leader by voting for the motion, the biggest revolt against a Conservative prime minister on a European issue. "We understand that many people who voted for it felt very strongly -- and we respect that.

With a new sense of urgency, the leaders of the 27 European Union nations grappled directly on Sunday with their thorniest financial and economic problems, and made progress that they promised could yield a complete package of measures within days, the International Herald Tribune reported. The hope is that the seriousness of the leaders’ effort to finally solve the interrelated problems of Greek debt, weakened banks and a bailout fund in need of reinforcement will keep speculators at bay when the financial markets open on Monday morning.

France and Germany are close to a deal to leverage the euro zone bailout fund through first loss insurance for the primary bond market and a special purpose vehicle with an EFSF subordinated loan for the secondary market, euro zone officials said, Reuters reported. There is also wide support for a declaration from euro zone leaders which would welcome continued European Central Bank bond purchases on the secondary bond market, the officials said. The ECB has said it would prefer to take a back seat once the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is fully functional with new powers.

Decisions taken over the coming week will define Europe's destiny for generation, The Wall Street Journal Agenda blog reported. For the past 60 years, the European Union in its various guises has helped to ensure peace and prosperity.