Headlines

Germany is standing firm in its opposition to another major write-down of Greece's debt ahead of a meeting Tuesday that aims to clear the way for the next disbursement of aid to Athens. "A haircut remains unimaginable," Finance Ministry spokeswoman Marianne Kothe said at a regular government news conference Monday, as euro-zone finance ministers work to thrash out a deal.

France suffered the second downgrade of its sovereign debt rating this year when Moody’s, the US rating agency, removed its triple A ranking on Monday night, the Financial Times reported. It followed a similar move in January by Standard & Poor’s and underscored concerns that the country’s high level of public debt, which has risen above 90 per cent of gross national product, put it in danger of becoming another victim of the eurozone debt crisis. The move will pose a serious test for François Hollande’s socialist administration, in office for only six months.

Debt-laden Portugal has passed the sixth quarterly review of its performance under an EU/IMF bailout, opening the way for payment of the next 2.5 billion euro (2 billion pounds) tranche of the loan despite growing economic risks, the lenders said on Monday. The review, which lasted just a week, found the country was progressing in reforming its economy and the programme remained broadly on track to allow it to again finance itself in debt markets as planned next year. Previous reviews lasted two weeks.

British aero engineer Hampson Industries Plc, which has been struggling with a heavy debt load, on Monday said it planned to appoint administrators, less than four months after it terminated a sale process, Reuters reported. The company, which supplies tools and components to planemakers Airbus and Boeing Co, put itself on the block in February but warned that the sale process was likely to result in little or no value to the company's shareholders.

The European Commission is pushing for a significant bolstering of Europe’s defences against aggressive corporate tax avoidance schemes, as the EU bids to clamp down on practices which cost its member states as much as $60bn per year. Pressure is mounting on companies which artificially shift profits to tax havens or low-tax jurisdictions, following months of revelations about the very low tax rates enjoyed by some groups at a time when cash-strapped governments across Europe are struggling to boost revenues.

Mariano Rajoy has always said that when it comes to a possible Spanish bailout, he will do what is right for Spain and right for Europe. So far, it has to be said, the Prime Minister's policy of sitting on his hands has been vindicated, much to the frustration of those who predicted the markets would have forced his hand by now, The Wall Street Journal Agenda blog reported.

Troubled Scandinavian airline SAS and its labor unions on Monday pushed on with talks aimed at ensuring the group's survival and avoiding bankruptcy after a midnight deadline for a deal passed, The Chicago Tribune reported on a Reuters story. The Scandinavian airline, hit by competition from lower-price rivals, last week announced plans to cut some salaries by up to 17 percent, reduce overall headcount to about 9,000 from 15,000 and reduce costs.

The shadow banking industry has grown to about $67 trillion, $6 trillion bigger than previously thought, leading global regulators to seek more oversight of financial transactions that fall outside traditional oversight, Bloomberg reported. The size of the shadow banking system, which includes the activities of money market funds, monoline insurers and off- balance sheet investment vehicles, “can create systemic risks” and “amplify market reactions when market liquidity is scarce,” the Financial Stability Board said in a report, which utilized more data than last year’s probe into the sector.

Workers protesting austerity on the streets of southern Europe weren't to know it, but earlier this month there was also a strike at the heart of the European Union - by bureaucrats fighting possible cuts, Reuters reported. For an increasing number of Europeans, cuts in Brussels are what is needed. The European capital has told member states to reduce spending, but as millions in Spain, Portugal and Greece feel the pain in pay, pensions, and social services, people are looking to the centre and finding what looks like fat. Britain has led the way.

Indebted Irish publisher Independent News & Media plans to ask its lenders to write off up to 100 million euros ($127 million) of debt as part of a wider overhaul, Britain's Sunday Times reported. The company on Friday said it will need urgent and substantial restructuring in response to high levels of debt and tough trading. A spokesman on Sunday declined to comment on the report that the company was seeking to write off debt. The publisher hopes to secure agreement on the debt write-off with a consortium of eight banks by early next year, the newspaper reported without citing sources.