Reports have emerged that troubled house builder McInerney Holdings is preparing an application for court protection which would force its lenders to write down its debts. If the petition goes ahead, it could represent a challenge to Nama legislation, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. Laden down with borrowings of €236 million, McInerney Holdings, one of the country's oldest house builders, is one of the many Irish firms attempting to restructure its debts in a last-gasp effort for survival.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s multibillion-dollar lawsuit against Barclays PLC gets underway again this week when Barclays will call its first witnesses in the trial Monday, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Lehman sued Barclays in New York bankruptcy court over the British bank's purchase of Lehman's brokerage in September 2008, shortly after Lehman collapsed. Lehman is trying to recover more than $11 billion that it says Barclays unfairly pocketed in the deal by failing to disclose discounts it was receiving on the assets it was buying.

A group of European Union members in central and eastern Europe, plus Sweden, asked the bloc to take into account the cost of pension system overhaul when assessing debt levels, Dow Jones’ New Europe blog reported in a commentary. The move would reduce sovereign debt as measured by the EU, but only on paper. The countries are in fact asking for debt to be swept under the carpet.

Bank of Scotland (Ireland) is to cease operating as a licensed bank in Ireland following a strategic review of its business here, The Irish Times reported. The company, which is owned by Lloyds Banking Group, will wind down its operations, ceasing to provide working capital and wealth management services by the end of the year, and transferring its existing Irish business to Bank of Scotland in the UK.

Greece's deepening recession is driving joblessness steadily higher, feeding discontent with the government's austerity program and dragging on the broader economy, The Wall Street Journal reported. Greece's gross domestic product contracted by 3.5% in the second quarter from a year earlier, hitting retailers hard and sending unemployment rates to above 12% of the work force, according to data released last week. Forecasts vary on just how bad unemployment could get. The International Monetary Fund predicts the jobless rate will reach 14.8% by 2012.

New proposals published by the Financial Regulator last week will make it tougher for lenders to seek repossessions and will strengthen the rights of mortgage holders in arrears, InsolvencyJournal.ie reported. The planned changes are part of a proposed reform of the existing code of conduct for lenders and are aimed at easing the situation for more than 32,000 homeowners in arrears. Under the new rules, which are due to be finalised in November, lenders will have to explore all viable options with borrowers in arrears and examine alternative repayment measures.

German regulator Bafin closed noa bank GmbH & Co, a tiny Frankfurt-based retail lender focused on ethical and ecological banking, adding the bank was not systemically relevant, Reuters reported. Bafin ordered the closure as a way to "secure the assets", the regulator said. Noa bank was forbidden from making payments and taking deposits because the insolvency of its unit noa Factoring AG threatened to imperil the parent, Bafin said in a statement. Bafin said the bank had assets of 179.2 million euros ($231 million) on Aug.

More U.K. budget travel companies are facing insolvency after a combination of the economic downturn, volcanic ash, bad weather and strikes resulted in a sharp fall in holiday bookings this year, Dow Jones reported. Kiss Flights, which sold holidays to Greece, Egypt, Turkey and the Canary Islands, went into administration Tuesday, the seventeenth U.K. travel company protected by a customer protection scheme to go out of business this year, according to the Civil Aviation Authority. Another 33 companies under the same scheme failed last year.

The bailout of beleaguered building society Irish Nationwide is likely to exceed the original estimated cost of €2.7 billion by up to one-fifth, said Patrick Honohan, governor of the Central Bank, The Irish Times reported. Speaking in Beijing, China, Mr Honohan put the net cost to the Government of recapitalising Anglo Irish Bank at “about €22-€25 billion”, and on top of this, he said, would be added about €4 billion “mainly to cover one small building society”.

Life insurance and pension provider Aegon NV on Tuesday soothed market fears that it could need a capital increase after saying it aims to repay the remaining €2 billion ($2.56 billion) it owes the Dutch state before the end of June 2011, The Wall Street Journal reported. The repayment details came just before Aegon received final approval from the European Commission for receiving state aid during the financial crisis. The commission cleared the aid later Tuesday, saying it was satisfied that the insurance company's restructuring plan will lead to a viable company.