Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday that it had cut its sovereign credit ratings for Portugal and Greece, piling further pressure on the two countries with heavy debt loads, weak economies and moribund banks, the International Herald Tribune reported. S.& P. cut Portugal’s rating to BBB– from BBB, with a negative outlook, the agency’s second downgrade of the country since Friday. BBB- is the agency’s lowest investment grade rating and is just one notch above junk.

The Central Bank has resolved that Ireland’s banks will not be able to challenge the findings this week of crunch stress tests, an exercise which will clear the way for the fifth bank bailout since the 2008 guarantee, the Irish Times reported. The participating institutions – Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Banks, Irish Life Permanent and the Educational Building Society – will not be able to seek any lower loan loss estimates in the tests or revised capital requirements. The tests are expected to show a further capital hole at the lenders of between €18 billion and €23 billion.

Irish first time home buyers are set to lose over €30k if they do not purchase a property before June when mortgage interest relief for people buying their first home is to be abolished, Finfacts reported. Currently mortgage interest relief is available to first time buyers (FTB) for up to 7 years after a property is bought. Over a 7 year period a qualifying first time buyer couple availing of the relief could save over €30k. The changes to mortgage interest relief, also known as Tax Relief at Source (TRS) are outlined in the Programme of Government.

Greece's Socialist government is considering creative means to close its budget gap as tax receipts slump—including steps ranging from seizing the unclaimed assets of the dead to slapping new taxes on carbonated drinks, The Wall Street Journal reported. Ahead of a visit by international creditors Monday, the government is scrambling to find €22 billion ($31 billion) in additional spending cuts and tax measures over the next three years, as required under a €110 billion bailout it received from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in May.

The High Court issued a landmark judgment Friday in relation to the crystallisation of floating charges in the Belgard Motors liquidation, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. This is the first time that the Irish Courts have determined the issue of the validity of a crystallised floating charge by a Bank. In short, the Official Liquidator, Tom Kavanagh of kavanaghfennell, sought directions from the High Court in relation to whether crystallised floating charges had been converted to fixed charge over assets of circa €2M.

Faced with the collapse of the government of debt-troubled Portugal, European leaders on Friday called on competing political parties in Lisbon to commit to tough financial targets, while Spain sought to protect itself from contagion by announcing new economic policies, the International Herald Tribune reported. The moves followed a two-day meeting in Brussels, which was originally intended to put a capstone on the euro debt crisis but ended up being overshadowed by the resignation of the Portuguese prime minister, José Sócrates, who lost a parliamentary vote Wednesday.

Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday said she would seek to secure an agreement for Germany to spread its contributions to the euro zone's permanent bailout fund over five years instead of the three- to four-year timeline European Union leaders had been discussing, The Wall Street Journal reported. Germany had agreed, at a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, to make €22 billion ($31.03 billion) in total contributions to a permanent bailout fund that would take effect in 2013, Mrs.

Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday said she would seek to secure an agreement for Germany to spread its contributions to the euro zone's permanent bailout fund over five years instead of the three- to four-year timeline European Union leaders had been discussing, The Wall Street Journal reported. Germany had agreed, at a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels on Monday, to make €22 billion ($31.03 billion) in total contributions to a permanent bailout fund that would take effect in 2013, Mrs.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates' resignation has left legal experts in debt-laden Portugal debating whether a caretaker government has the power to request an international bailout if its economic woes deepen, Reuters reported. Opposition parties on Thursday rejected Socrates' latest austerity measures, forcing him to resign and most likely lead a government with limited powers until a snap election expected to take place in late May at the earliest. President Anibal Cavaco Silva will meet leaders of political parties on Friday as he weighs whether to call such a poll.

Only the largest of Spain’s merged savings banks or cajas are likely to succeed in raising capital through stock market offerings because of uncertainty about corporate governance and the value of property assets, according to Madrid investment bankers and senior commercial bank executives, the Financial Times reported. Banks and cajas have been given until Monday to tell the Bank of Spain how they intend to raise new capital.