Headlines

The European Union gave the green light for 11 countries that account for two-thirds of the bloc's economy to impose a small tax on trades in stocks, bonds and derivatives, The Wall Street Journal reported. If implemented as planned, the levy could transform financial-market flows in Europe, but many observers expect difficult negotiations ahead to diminish its impact. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, had hoped to create a financial-transaction tax for all 27 EU member states.

Hilco UK, the retail restructuring group, has acquired the bank debt of HMV, effectively giving it control and paving the way for a rescue of the entertainment retailer that fell into administration last week, the Financial Times reported. People familiar with the situation said Hilco had acquired the debt from the group’s lenders, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland for about £40m. HMV had underlying net debt of £176m as at the end of October, although people familiar with the matter said this had fallen to about £120m following the crucial Christmas and new year trading period.

One of the world's largest leasing firms has warned India the failure of troubled carriers like Kingfisher Airlines to return airplanes when they cannot pay their bills could put the country's aviation growth at risk by scaring away new funding. ILFC, which owns over 900 aircraft and rents them out to airlines for several years at a time, is the latest industry player to clash with the Indian carrier, whose financial difficulties have left its aircraft grounded since October.

The Bank of Japan announced on Tuesday its most determined effort yet to end years of economic stagnation, saying it would switch to an open-ended commitment to buying assets next year and double its inflation target to 2 percent, Reuters reported. It issued a joint statement with the government promising to reach the inflation goal "at the earliest possible time," drawing praise from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has piled relentless pressure on the central bank to take bolder measures to pull Japan out of deflation.

More companies are expected to default on their debt this year, with UK retailers deemed the most vulnerable, according to new research, the Financial Times reported. A survey of the restructuring industry – published just days after HMV and Blockbuster became the latest high-street chains to collapse – indicates that the retail sector will be no more resilient in coming months.

Hungary wants to impose a punitive 35% capital gains tax on assets its nationals deposited in Switzerland, but it may have a hard time getting information out of the Alpine country, according to a French-based consultancy, The Wall Street Journal Emerging Europe blog reported. The Hungarian government allowed assets to be repatriated under benign conditions of a 10% capital gains tax rate over the past two years ending Dec. 31, 2012, which it referred to as a tax amnesty. The 35% rate it now plans to impose, and apply retroactively, would in comparison count as a penal tax rate.

Euro zone finance ministers late last night called for an examination of whether the maturity of Ireland’s rescue loans from the EFSF temporary bailout fund should be extended, the Irish Times reported. The move came ahead of a meeting today of all 27 EU ministers at which Michael Noonan will ask for a similar examination of the maturity of loans form the European Financial Stability Mechanism, a separate fund run by the European Commission.

The worst of the economic slowdown in central and eastern Europe may be over, with growth set for a modest pick-up in 2013, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Financial Times reported.The multilateral lender to former communist eastern Europe says growth in its 34 countries of operation, including four in north Africa to which it extended its mandate last year, dropped from 4.6 per cent in 2011 to 2.6 per cent in 2012. But the bank’s latest quarterly forecast is for growth to rise moderately to 3.1 per cent this year.

Restructuring specialist Hilco is the frontrunner in the battle to save music retailer HMV from administration, British media reported on Sunday. Hilco, which bought HMV Canada in 2011 and salvaged home goods firm Habitat, is favoured by an industry consortium, said the Sunday Times. The paper said music labels and film studios, such as Universal, Warner, Sony, and 20th Century Fox were preparing a rescue package, keen to keep the 92-year-old retailer alive. Options for the suppliers include cutting the prices of discs and giving the retailer generous credit terms, it said.

Video game company Atari SA said it filed for bankruptcy protection in Paris and New York on Monday after it failed to find a successor to main shareholder and sole lender BlueBay as it wrestles with tough market conditions, Reuters reported. The U.S. operations plan, in addition, to separate from their French parent to seek independent capital to grow in digital and mobile games, Atari Inc said in a statement. The U.S.