Headlines

Hungary has room to cut its interest rates even more from 1.95%, the lowest on record, because of falling consumer prices and a recent conversion of foreign-currency loans into forints, which has reduced the vulnerability of households, a central banker said. With consumer prices falling on an annual basis for sixth months in a row and posting an annual decline of 1% in February, the central bank last week cut its main interest rate by 0.15 percentage point to 1.95%, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The sudden rush to join China’s new Asian development bank by this week’s deadline, including last-minute applications by countries hardly considered Beijing’s best friends, astonished even the Chinese, the International New York Times reported. Few in Beijing had believed that Taiwan, still considered a breakaway territory by China, would want in. Same for Norway, whose relations with the Chinese have been chilly since its decision five years ago to award the Nobel Peace Prize to a dissident Chinese writer.

A top Bulgarian court has definitively refused to consider an appeal against the revoking of the banking licence of Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank or KTB), opening the way for an insolvency case against the collapsed lender to proceed. The appeal against the Bulgarian central bank's decision to withdraw the licence had been filed by KTB's majority owner Bromak EOOD. The Bulgarian Acquisition Company II, another Corpbank shareholder, and Vera Ahundova, a representative of a group of KTB depositors who suffered losses from the bank's closure, supported the appeal.

Switzerland’s new “say on pay” rules could make it harder for investment banking stars at UBS and Credit Suisse to outpace their bosses in compensation, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported. All the country’s listed companies face binding shareholder votes on executive compensation this year. But the Swiss public’s hostility toward its banks means they could be first in the firing line. The initial effect on UBS and Credit Suisse’s investment banking chiefs will be indirect.

Greece has submitted a fresh list of economic reforms to euro zone authorities, estimating the measures could raise as much as €6 billion this year. It is the cash-strapped government’s most comprehensive effort so far to unlock €7.2 billion in bailout funds before it goes bankrupt. The 26-page document relies on plans to crack down on tax evasion and fraud to raise most of the revenues. These include €875 million from audits of offshore bank transfers and €600 million from a new lottery scheme aimed at compelling consumers to demand value-added tax receipts.

Target Corp's Canadian unit said it would close the last of its 133 retail stores on April 12. The No. 2 U.S. discount chain said in January that it would exit Canada after struggling since its March 2013 launch, resulting in 17,000 employees losing their jobs and triggering a $5.1 billion quarterly charge. Target Canada's three distribution centers and Mississauga headquarters have been closed, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. "The court-approved real estate sales process is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of June 2015," Target Canada CEO Aaron Alt said.

Innotech Solar has filed for insolvency, blaming its predicament on “general uncertainty within the European PV market”. The filing was made at Narvik in Norway on 24 March, the company said. German subsidiaries ITS Innotech Solar Module GmbH, ITS Halle Cell GmbH and Energiebau Solar Power GmbH, Cologne, also filed for insolvency on 25 March. The insolvency of the three German subsidiaries affects a total of 120 employees. Their wages and salaries will be secured until the end of May by the German Insolvency fund.

European bankers saw their pay increase in 2015, though they still lag behind their American counterparts, according to a snapshot of bonuses released on Wednesday by Emolument.com, a salary benchmarking website in Britain. European bonuses were up 18 percent to 136,000 pounds, or about $201,000, in 2015, while bankers’ bonuses in the United States ticked up to the equivalent of £216,000, for the same period, the International New York Times DealBook blog reported.

Developer Johnny Ronan has repaid his debts to the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) using cash raised from US and UK investors, Mr Ronan was one of the highest profile developers during the property boom that ultimately led to the Republic’s financial crash in 2008.

The joint special liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation have said they intend to continue with the bank’s legal action against the former chief executive of Irish Nationwide, Michael Fingleton, the Irish Times reported. In a statement, the liquidators, Eamonn Richardson and Kieran Wallace, confirmed that the bank has settled its legal action against former directors of the society in connection with losses sustained by the society. The settlement arose in mediation talks and included an undisclosed payment from the former directors.