Headlines

Tough lifestyle conditions to be imposed on people who attempt to write off mortgage debt under the Irish Government's new Insolvency regime include a warning that those living on public transport routes will not be allowed to include the running of a car as one of their expenses, Independent.ie reported. The guidelines will also impose lifestyle conditions for families, who will be expected to eat healthily and cut back on leisure activities.

The DVD and games rental store Blockbuster has been sold to restructuring specialists Gordon Brothers Europe after filing for a form of U.K. bankruptcy earlier this year, the Associated Press reported. The company had gone into administration - a form of bankruptcy in Britain - in January. Blockbuster U.K. at the time had 528 stores. Hundreds of shops were shut in the weeks after its financial collapse. Administrators for the company from accounting firm Deloitte said Saturday that Gordon Brothers Europe had purchased Blockbuster for an undisclosed sum, saving 2,000 jobs and 264 U.K. stores.

Cyprus, in an 11th-hour bid to unlock international aid, reopen the nation's banking system and preserve membership in the euro, readied a plan that would restructure its second-largest lender and enforce unprecedented restrictions on financial transactions, The Wall Street Journal reported. The proposals, if they take effect, would allow authorities to restrict noncash transactions, curtail check cashing, limit withdrawals and even convert checking accounts into fixed-term deposits when banks reopen. They have been closed since March 16.

France is set to follow in Switzerland’s footsteps by tackling private sector wages in the latest attack on European executive pay, the Financial Times reported. Legislation to increase shareholder power over remuneration and limit or ban enhanced pension deals and “golden parachutes” – similar to measures overwhelmingly approved by Swiss voters in a referendum this month – is being prepared, officials said.

A US bankruptcy judge has approved a $US45 million ($43.3m) settlement between Lehman Brothers Holdings' Australian unit and a group of insurers over claims the bank misled a group of councils, charities and churches into buying risky securities backed by US mortgages, The Australian reported. Judge James Peck, of the US Bankruptcy Court in New York, yesterday signed off the settlement between 10 US insurance companies and the liquidators of Lehman Brothers Australia to settle the matter over collateralised debt obligations, or CDOs.

Canada's federal budget laid out plans on Thursday to impose higher capital requirements on banks whose failure could disrupt the Canadian financial system and economy, Reuters reported. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also said the federal government would go ahead with its own capital markets regulatory framework if it cannot agree with the provinces on creating a common securities regulator.

The local government in Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd's home town is seeking to bail out China's biggest solar panel maker to stave off its collapse, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday. One proposal under consideration is allowing Wuxi Guolian, the local government's investment arm, to take over Suntech's Wuxi business through a restructuring, and test a bankruptcy law introduced in 2007. "Production has to continue," said the source in the city of Wuxi, where Suntech's headquarters are located.

Central European Distribution Corp , a leading vodka producer that missed a debt payment last week, received a restructuring plan offering $280 million in cash, which would turn the equity over to a group led by a Russian investor, Reuters reported. A1, a unit of Russia's Alfa Group, was also offering investors that hold notes issued by CEDC $650 million in new debt, according to a letter that was sent to the board of CEDC on Thursday.

Cyprus on Wednesday was left with narrowing options to rescue its outsize financial-services sector from collapse—something that could end its membership in the euro zone—after international lenders rejected an alternative government plan to secure a €10 billion ($12.93 billion) bailout and Russian officials remained cool to a Cypriot gas-for-cash deal, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Cyprus has thrown its international reputation as an offshore banking hub into peril after considering a bold plan to levy a one-time tax on deposits, The Wall Street Journal reported. The proposed tax—which would have helped Cyprus raise funds as part of a €10 billion ($13 billion) bailout deal from the European Union and International Monetary Fund—was rejected by Cyprus's Parliament on Tuesday. Cyprus is now scrambling to find other ways to raise the funds. Still, much of the damage appears to have been done. The tax proposal provoked outrage in Moscow.