The Quinn Group has heavily criticised the Financial Regulator’s decision yesterday not to allow Quinn Insurance Limited (QIL), which is in administration, to write new commercial business in the UK, The Irish Times reported. Quinn Group said commercial UK business was QIL’s most “profitable” line in 2009 and 2010 and the decision “should be reconsidered” by the regulator. Quinn Group remains Quinn Insurance Ltd’s ultimate shareholder, even though the regulator appointed joint administrators on March 30th.

The High Court has confirmed the appointment of an examiner to housebuilding firm McInerney Homes and a number of related companies, The Irish Times reported. Mr Justice Frank Clarke ruled that examiner William O’Riordan of PricewaterhouseCoopers must address a number of issues of concern to the court by early October or the process, opposed by a syndicate of three banks which are owed €113 million by McInerney, could be terminated.

Motorists rushed to gas stations as Greek truck drivers started a new wave of protests Monday, declaring a work stoppage and parking hundreds of vehicles along major highways in opposition to government plans to liberalize their profession, the Associated Press reported. Separately, the country's finance minister was to head to major European financial capitals later in the week on a roadshow to reassure investors about the long-term prospects of Greece's economy, which the government is overhauling to deal with a major debt crisis.

Three banks could end up with around 20 per cent of house building group McInerney Holdings’ Irish businesses if a deal to save the companies involved is hammered out by the examiner appointed by the High Court yesterday, The Irish Times reported. The court confirmed the appointment of Billy O’Riordan of PricewaterhouseCoopers as examiner to McInerney Homes and four other group companies, giving them protection from creditors, including a syndicate of three banks owed a total of €111 million.

Corporate borrowers and bankers welcomed the delay until 2015 in implementing tough new liquidity rules agreed by global banking supervisors, who heeded widespread concerns that the measures would make short-term borrowing prohibitively expensive, the Financial Times reported. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s meeting on Sunday focused mostly on capital reserve requirements, but it also announced that the new “liquidity coverage ratio” would be “observational” until 2015.

The administrators of U.K. social housing maintenance firm Connaught PLC Monday announced it is axing a further 400 jobs at the company, taking the toll of recent layoffs to 1,100, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Administrator KPMG also said it has transferred the contractual relationships for eight of Connaught's customers to social housing and maintenance provider Mears Group PLC.

Greece will launch a charm offensive in Europe this week to reassure investors the country is on track with crucial economic reforms to prevent a damaging government bond default that could trigger a deeper crisis in the eurozone, the Financial Times reported. George Papaconstantinou, finance minister, will lead a delegation including European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund officials to meet investors in London, Paris and Frankfurt. It will be Greece’s first roadshow since last December.

The world’s top bank regulators agreed Sunday on far-reaching new rules intended to strengthen the global banking industry and shield it against future financial disasters, The New York Times reported. The new requirements more than tripled the amount of capital banks must hold in reserve, an effort to bolster their financial strength and provide a cushion against potential losses. They come two years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers set off a worldwide banking crisis that required billions in government bailouts.

Iceland's parliament will have to decide whether to charge former leaders for failing to prevent the country's financial meltdown, after a committee of lawmakers split Saturday over whether they should be indicted, The Wall Street Journal reported. The deadlock means it will be harder for parliament to try former Prime Minister Geir Haarde and three other top officials for their role in the 2008 economic crash. Iceland was one of the first victims of the worldwide economic downturn sparked by the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market in 2007.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Goldman Sachs as the investment bank was today handed down a multimillion-pound fine by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), LegalWeek reported. The regulator has ordered the investment banking giant to pay £17.5m as a penalty for neglecting to inform it that its executive director Fabrice Toure was subject to a fraud investigation by US financial authorities when he became an FSA-approved person upon relocating to the UK in 2008.