Headlines

There is growing expectation that losses may be imposed on senior bank bondholders as part of the imminent Cypriot bailout, despite a similar option being withheld from Ireland as part of the €64 billion Irish rescue package. Forcing bank bondholders to take a write-down on their debt is under active consideration by euro zone officials, according to a well-placed euro zone source. Depositors in Cypriot banks may also suffer writedowns, the Irish Times reported.

The Bank of England warned on Thursday that the next phase of the UK's six-year financial and economic crisis may be triggered by the collapse of debt-laden companies bought by private equity firms in the boom years before the crash, The Guardian reported. In its latest quarterly bulletin, Threadneedle Street said the need over the next year to refinance firms subject to heavily leveraged buyouts posed a systemic threat.

Most sites being worked on by Mainzeal prior to its collapse last month have now been handed back to their clients, according to receiver PricewaterhouseCoopers, The New Zealand Herald reported. Hope remains that the collapsed company's subcontractors and staff will now be re-hired to work on the various projects. Mainzeal Property and Construction, which was New Zealand's third largest construction firm, went into receivership on Waitangi Day leaving workers and subcontractors locked out of about 40 worksites.

Embattled Australian coal tycoon Nathan Tinkler appeared in a Sydney court on Thursday to face a public grilling for the first time over the state of his finances, as creditors seek to recover millions of dollars in unpaid debts, Reuters reported. Tinkler, 37, flew in from his home in Singapore having been threatened with arrest if he failed to present himself in the New South Wales Supreme Court. He lost a last-minute bid to avoid questioning over a A$28.4 million ($29.1 million) debt to junior coal explorer Blackwood Corp Ltd.

Germany’s Bundesbank nearly doubled its already large risk provisions for 2012, saying Europe’s sovereign debt crisis was not over and urging central banks to stay away from fiscal policy, the Financial Times reported. The Bundesbank added €6.7bn to its provisions, bringing them up to €14.4bn, the bank said in its annual report published on Tuesday. The increase partly reflected the risk it perceived in holding the sovereign debt of countries hit by the crisis such as Spain, Italy and Greece.

Germany is growing wary of saddling bank-account holders with losses as part of a rescue for Cyprus and no longer insists on a financial contribution from the International Monetary Fund, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel said, Bloomberg reported. Michael Meister, deputy parliamentary floor leader of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party, floated concessions that would hasten the wrap-up of nine months of aid talks and lessen the risk that a financial accident in Cyprus, which makes up barely 0.2 percent of the euro-zone economy, could revive European market turbulence.

French President François Hollande said Tuesday the country's budget deficit will be well above what he pledged when he came to power 10 months ago, and Europe needs to change its dose of austerity to fuel an economic recovery, The Wall Street Journal reported. The 58-year-old socialist president came to power in May last year saying he would steer France on a path to growth while also bringing the budget deficit down to 3% of annual output in 2013 from 5.2% in 2011, as the previous government had promised to investors and European peers.

Insolvent German street light maker Hess is holding talks with potential investors with a view to finding a buyer for the scandal-hit company soon, Reuters reported. Hess said on Tuesday it had received expressions of interest from several strategic and financial investors, whom it did not name, and that it had held talks with several of them. The firm, whose search for a buyer is being led by consultancy Ebner Stolz, said it aimed to be sold as a whole if possible. Hess's insolvency filing in February came just months after its stock market debut.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has directed Bank of Ireland, AIB and Permanent TSB to reduce their staff remuneration costs by 6 to 8 per cent to aid their return to profitability, the Irish Times reported. The reductions are to be introduced by cuts in payroll and pension benefits, and new working arrangements and structures to deliver efficiency gains. The banks will be expected to begin delivering the cost reductions in 2014. This direction comes on foot of a report on bankers pay for the Government by consultants Mercer.

Spanish fishing company Pescanova said on Tuesday it had found discrepancies between its accounts and its bank debt, Reuters reported. Pescanova's statement comes a day after the stock market regulator opened an investigation into the company for possible market abuse. Galicia-based Pescanova, which catches, processes and packages fish on factory ships, said in a statement to the stock exchange that its auditor, BDO Auditores, was looking into the issue.