Spanish central bank officials sought Monday to reassure nervous depositors after taking over ailing Church-controlled savings bank CajaSur over the weekend and firing its senior management, The Wall Street Journal reported. For the Bank of Spain, the cleanup of a mutual savings bank that holds just 0.6% of the country's banking assets shouldn't prove difficult. But the seizure of CajaSur comes as authorities grapple with a sector reeling from the collapse of the housing market at the same time that the government is hard-pressed to fix its own finances.

A finance consortium that owns most of the property of insolvent German retailer Karstadt will submit a bid for all 120 department stores after reaching a deal with unions over wage concessions, Bild am Sonntag reported. Highstreet, a vehicle led by Goldman Sachs, agreed in exchange to give the 25,000 strong workforce a stake of roughly 15 percent in Karstadt, making it now the frontrunner in the bidding war, according to the German Sunday weekly.

Germany's Parliament on Friday approved the country's contribution of up to €147.6 billion ($184.7 billion) to a massive €750 billion bailout from European Union countries and the International Monetary Fund for euro-zone states on the verge of a default, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Upper House of Parliament signed off on the bill after the Lower House approved it earlier Friday in a heated debate, with criticism from opposition parties. Some lawmakers of Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right parties didn't back the measures.

The European Commission Thursday cleared the €1.5 billion recapitalization given by Belgium to the insurance company Ethias for the company's restructuring, Dow Jones reported. The Commission concluded that Ethias' restructuring plan will restore the company's viability, without distorting competition due to the state support. In order to participate in the costs of the restructuring, Ethias will sell or wind down its retail life insurance business and a number of other assets, the Commission said. The insurer ran into severe difficulties in 2008 in the wake of the financial crisis.

Furniture manufacturer Thulema filed itself for bankruptcy in Harju County Court today, saying that liquidity problems and difficult market situation makes it impossible for the company to meet its restructuring plan that was approved last October, reported aripaev.ee. The shareholders of Thulema are Finland's Puustelli Group with 29% of shares, BenSov OÜ (18%), Triomentor (35%) and Revalbonus (18%). The three last-named shareholders acquired a holding in Thulema in December 2009. As of April 30, Thulema's liabilities were 40.2 million kroon while assets were valued at 38.9 million kroons.

A top IMF (International Monetary Fund) official said Wednesday that the euro’s recent falls bring the currency nearer to what should be considered a more balanced level for the medium term, suggesting the IMF doesn’t view the fall in the value currency as a threat to the global economy, Finfacts reported. On Wednesday, the euro was sold off after Germany banned “naked short selling” (bets on movements without having any commitment to buy or borrow instruments) of Eurozone government bonds and the shares of ten German financial firms.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Thursday that the rules he has proposed to address the euro zone's debt problems--including the possible expulsion of member states verging on insolvency--may require changes to European Union treaties, Dow Jones reported. He acknowledged that bringing about the changes would be extremely difficult and that many countries doubt such moves are possible.

Nationalised Dutch bank ABN Amro forecast more than €1 billion in second-quarter charges today, offsetting profitable results from both its units in the first quarter, The Irish Times reported. The Dutch government nationalised the local operations of former Belgian concern Fortis in October 2008, including both banks, amid a liquidity crisis. It has spent more than €26 billion on the nationalisation and subsequent support, making it one of the world's costliest rescues due to the credit crisis.

Germany's restrictions on some bearish financial bets caught much of the rest of Europe by surprise, and signaled that the euro zone's largest economy is willing to move ahead with tighter oversight of traders while the European Union's own regulatory package trundles along, The Wall Street Journal reported. In France, the euro's second-largest economy, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Wednesday she wasn't consulted before Germany made its move to ban "naked" short sales of some securities.

U.K. mortgage lenders are offering loans to “almost prime” and “complex prime” borrowers with “minor historic credit issues” who may have experienced financial “blips.” They don’t use the word subprime. Three years after defaults on U.S. subprime mortgages sparked the worst financial crisis in almost 80 years, General Electric Co.’s GE Money unit and Investec Plc’s Kensington division are once again lending to British customers rejected by mainstream banks, Bloomberg reported. This time, they say they’re offering less money to clients with better credit histories.