State-controlled lender WestLB AG said its owners have agreed on a detailed framework to break up the German bank, paving the way after months of haggling to meet European Union demands that it slim down and find a new owner, The Wall Street Journal reported. The plan will be submitted to the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, for approval on June 30 by the German government, after all the current owners' decision-making bodies—including the lower house of Parliament of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia—formally approve it next week.

Germany wants Europe to postpone a new bailout deal for Greece to buy time for a compromise on involving private creditors that does not look like a climbdown that would entail political risks for Chancellor Angela Merkel, Reuters reported. Merkel will try to resolve this dilemma in talks on Thursday with the European Central Bank's Mario Draghi and on Friday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, with the ECB, Paris and European Commission all questioning Berlin's position.

State-backed German lender HSH Nordbank AG has formed a joint venture for managing its EUR3 billion Nordic real-estate loan book with two U.S.-based property finance firms, as the bank moves forward with its restructuring efforts, Dow Jones reported. HSH has teamed with property consultants Situs Cos. and special loan servicer Helios AMC LLC to create the new joint venture, which will initially service the bank's legacy loan book over the next couple of years.

US car giant General Motors appears to be ready to sell its subsiary Opel once again, amid continuing losses at the German firm, SPIEGEL reported. When GM abandoned an effort to sell the firm, the decision caused deep-seated tensions between the American company and the government in Berlin. In 2009, United States car manufacturer General Motors put its German subsidiary Opel up for sale, because GM itself was faced with bankruptcy.

Tokyo Electric Power Co should go through a court-led restructuring similar to Japan Airlines, the head of the Tokyo bourse was quoted as saying, sending the utility's stock tumbling to an all-time low on the possibility of a delisting, Reuters reported. Japan's government, however, reiterated there would be no such restructuring of the operator of the quake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which it has said should remain solvent and listed as it battles to restore power output and compensate victims of the nuclear crisis.

Germany’s senior bank regulator has criticised the European Banking Authority for its conduct of this year’s bank stress tests, accusing it of acting without legitimacy in setting controversial rules that define bank capital, the Financial Times reported. The comments from Jochen Sanio, head of BaFin, highlight the unhappiness in Germany at the EBA’s approach to the tests and cast doubt on the backing for the new authority from the financial sector in Europe’s largest economy.

German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG said Tuesday it has bought real estate and manufacturing facilities once owned by its former Qimonda unit for EUR100.6 million and also raised its capital expenditure budget for the current fiscal year, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The purchase covers cleanroom and manufacturing facilities in the German city of Dresden as well as 300-millimeter manufacturing equipment and is part of the company's strategic capacity expansion, Infineon said in a statement. Qimonda, a maker of DRAM chips, filed for insolvency in 2009.

Government officials from France and Germany went out of their way Monday to stress the need for a unified euro zone even as intensifying worries over Greek debt piled pressure on the currency bloc, The Wall Street Journal reported. In a Europe Day speech, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Monday said it's paramount that euro-zone states continue to show solidarity towards one another—signaling France could agree to go further to help Greece meet its funding needs for next year.

Germany's WestLB is being given another deadline, until the end of June, to submit details of a restructuring plan to the European Commission, three persons close to the matter told Dow Jones Wednesday. The German government was informed by the Commission of the new deadline in writing over the weekend, they said. In mid-April WestLB owners and the German government delivered a plan to turn WestLB into a bank providing central banking services to savings banks in the region, known as a Verbundbank.

The Bundesbank’s new hawkish president Jens Weidmann said private investors should help cover costs of the euro zone crisis, the Irish Times reported. Mr Weidmann promised a continued “stability culture” at the German central bank after taking over yesterday from outgoing president Axel Weber. “To put the currency union back on a solid footing, the rules have to be formulated so that national finance (players) and private investors are, in principle, prepared to answer for the consequences of their decision,” said Dr Weidmann, an economist and former student of Prof Weber.