French bank officials lashed out Friday at a European plan to restrict bankers' bonuses, arguing it will put the lenders at a competitive disadvantage and complicate their operations outside Europe, The Wall Street Journal reported. At a public hearing in London, bank executives and industry groups complained about rules that will force European banks to change the way they pay bonuses. The rules will require that a greater portion of the payouts take the form of stock rather than cash and that a large chunk is deferred several years rather than paid immediately.

Claiming a violation of rights to free movement, the European Commission Thursday said it has asked France to change a law that excludes nonresidents from enjoying limits on the taxes that wealthy citizens pay, a change the French government fears will force it to refund some revenue, The Wall Street Journal reported. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde rejected the request, saying it didn't seem legitimate that France should refund taxes that may well have been paid to another country on the income in question.

Ireland's central bank proposed on Thursday stricter requirements for how financial services firms deal with customers as part of efforts to beef up consumer protection in the aftermath of a disastrous property crash, Reuters reported. Years of reckless lending brought Ireland's banks to the brink of collapse and have left many borrowers struggling to repay hefty mortgages. The Central Bank of Ireland wants lending practices tightened to prevent a repeat of the banking crisis.

The future of DVD rental chain Chartbusters hangs in the balance just 18 months after the High Court approved a rescue plan for the troubled company, The Irish Times reported. The company is understood to be preparing to appoint a liquidator to wind up the business, which operates about 20 stores and employs an estimated 170 full- and part-time staff in the Republic. Chartbusters began as a DVD rental outfit in the early 1990s, but branched into internet kiosks and tanning booths as competition put this business under pressure over the last decade.

For many Spaniards, no longer able to pay their mortgages, the fine print in the deals they agreed to years ago is catching up with them, the International Herald Tribune reported. Not only are Spanish mortgage holders personally liable for the full amount of the loan, but throw in penalty interest charges and tens of thousands of dollars in court fees, and people can end up facing a mountain of debt. Bankruptcy is not the answer, either. Mortgage debt is specifically excluded here.

Germany's stronger-then-expected recovery will not be enough to prevent some 35,000 bankruptcies this year, an insolvency administrators' group said on Thursday. The VID trade association said automotive suppliers, engineering, shipping, and retailers would be especially hard hit. Siegfried Beck, head of the association, told Reuters many firms have left the economic crisis with drastically reduced core capital levels, leaving them weakened and needy for cash.

Ireland's embattled Prime Minister Brian Cowen admitted Wednesday that accelerating €15 billion ($20.78 billion) in planned budget cuts will damp economic growth, but warned the country runs the risk of "not being able to borrow at all" if the steps aren't taken, The Wall Street Journal reported. Ireland's reputation has taken a battering on international markets amid doubts about its ability to bring its deficit, the highest in Europe, back under control. Record-high borrowing costs have forced the government to cancel the two remaining bond auctions planned this year.

European Union governments put up hundreds of billions of euros earlier this year to keep financially troubled members like Greece or Ireland from defaulting on their debts. Now Germany is pushing to let hopelessly indebted governments do exactly that - admit they can't pay and hit bond investors with the costs instead of taxpayers, the Associated Press reported. But Berlin may have a hard time winning approval for a crisis resolution mechanism when EU officials meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

The cost of insuring Greek government debt against the risk of default jumped Wednesday, underscoring investor concerns about the heavily indebted country less than two weeks ahead of a key national election, The Wall Street Journal reported. The annual cost of insuring $10 million of Greek debt for five years jumped $73,000 to $754,000 as investors continued to react to comments made earlier in the week. The cost of insurance, as measured by credit default swaps, had risen $14,000 on Tuesday.

When Anglo Irish Bank announced a long-awaited exchange offer for its junior debt last week, there was shock in the market at the harshness of the terms. There were also howls of protest privately from the debtholders themselves to the advisers of Anglo Irish, the institution bailed out nearly two years ago by Ireland’s government after being hit hard by the country’s property slump, the Financial Times reported. One irate investor described the offer as equivalent to a North Korean election.