A day before he meets with President Obama, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Monday called for "decisive and collective action" between Europe and the United States to curb the financial speculation believed by many to have exacerbated the debt crisis now hitting Greece and other financially troubled nations in Europe, The Washington Post reported. "Together with my European partners, we have taken a common initiative to strengthen financial regulation, particularly vis-a-vis speculation," Papandreou said, according to a copy of his speech.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed a proposal to set up a European lender of last resort, saying that the European Union’s ability to act as a bloc is on the line over the Greek financial crisis, Bloomberg reported. “Our instruments are not sufficient,” Merkel told members of the foreign press association in Berlin today. “The European Union must be able to respond to the challenges of the moment.” Merkel was speaking after officials in Berlin and Brussels said European leaders are in talks to establish what may become the European Monetary Fund and limits on credit-default swaps.

Icelanders Saturday roundly rejected a deal to repay the U.K. and the Netherlands €3.9 billion ($5.3 billion) lost in the collapse of an Icelandic Internet bank, complicating the island's bid to access badly needed international-aid funding and render normal its relations with the rest of the world, The Wall Street Journal reported. More than 93% of Icelanders voted no in a national referendum, according to preliminary figures published Sunday morning by state broadcaster RUV. It was Iceland's first plebiscite since the island's independence from Denmark in 1944.

The Netherlands will take negotiations with Iceland over a bank debt dispute into account when considering Iceland's hopes to join the European Union, Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said on Saturday. Like all EU nations, the Netherlands can block Iceland's bid to join the group, which the island nation launched in the wake of the collapse of its financial system in 2008. The Netherlands and Great Britain want Iceland to repay more than $5 billion in compensation the two EU countries paid out to local savers in Icelandic online banks after the collapse.

Dubai World is expected to approach lenders for the first time this week with a suggested proposal for restructuring $22 billion of its debts, according to people close to the situation, the Financial Times reported. The troubled conglomerate has called leading creditors to London for meetings starting as early as Monday. Bankers expect the one-on-one meetings to reveal the first details of a formal proposal, which the government has said should be finalised this month.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the euro region is ready to rescue Greece should the government struggle to fund its budget deficit, arguing that the country is “under attack” from so-called speculators, Bloomberg reported. “I want to be very clear: if it were necessary, the states of the euro zone would fulfill their commitments,” he said in Paris yesterday after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. “There can be no doubt in this regard.” While Greece doesn’t need assistance right now, “we have measures, we are ready, we are determined,” he said.

France has proven surprisingly stable in the European economic storm. As Greece struggles to avoid default or bailout, Spain and Portugal watch anxiously, Sweden falls back into recession, Germany argues about historically high budget deficits and Britain grapples with deficits and debt of Hellenic proportions, France looks solid and even wise to many, The New York Times reported.

A court ruled Thursday that investors who lost money in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme through funds set up by UBS AG can't sue the Swiss bank and its adviser Ernst & Young for the losses they incurred, The Wall Street Journal reported. In a test case before a chamber of judges specialized in hearing commercial cases, the Luxembourg court found the investors had no grounds for individual claims against the bank. Instead, they must rely on the fund liquidator to obtain compensation for them from UBS.

Greece survived a key test by raising €5 billion ($6.85 billion) in a bond sale, but investors warned that a looming wave of debt auctions by other European countries could make it difficult for Athens to raise the rest of the money it needs, The Wall Street Journal reported. The offer by Greece to pay 6.3% on its 10-year notes drew investors, filling order books by late morning Thursday. By lunchtime in London,the offering had €14.5 billion in bids, a sign Greece could have sold nearly three times what it advertised.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet pressed Greece to halt its flirtation with International Monetary Fund aid and work with European allies to tame its record budget deficit, Bloomberg reported. As protesters besieged the Greek Finance Ministry to denounce €4.8 billion ($6.5 billion) of tax increases and spending cuts, the Athens government said the absence of European support might force it into the hands of the IMF.