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The U.K. government Monday said it is on track to pass legislation that will protect the retail operations of banks from the banks' more risky investment-bank activities by the end of this parliament in 2015, The Wall Street Journal reported. Ring fencing, as such protection is known, is the central recommendation of the Independent Commission on Banking, a review set up in June 2010 in response to the financial crisis and bank bailouts, shortly after the government came to power. The ICB was charged with finding ways to ensure that the U.K.

While financial authorities continue to push forward their efforts to clean up Korea’s messy secondary banking sector, it remains to be seen whether they could properly finish what they started, The Korea Times reported. In its latest attempt to purge secondary lenders that were crippled by exposure to the country’s toxic property sector, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) suspended the Solomon Savings Bank, Mirae Savings Bank, Korea Savings Bank and Hanju Savings Bank Sunday. This extended the list of savings banks shelved by financial regulators to 20.

The number of people declared bankrupt rose on Friday for the first time in a year, prompting predictions that insolvency rates are set to worsen, the UK Press Association reported. Bankruptcies rose by 5.5% on the previous quarter to reach 9,132, ending a recent trend of quarterly improvements, Insolvency Service figures showed. The number of debt relief orders (DROs), another form of personal insolvency often dubbed "bankruptcy light", increased by 7.3% on the quarter to reach a record high of 7,897.

German aluminium smelter Voerde Aluminium launched insolvency proceedings on Friday but said the business would continue to operate and it would seek to restructure, Reuters reported. The company, which produces around 115,000 tonnes of aluminium annually and has 410 employees, said it had hit liquidity problems because aluminium prices had fallen since July last year while production costs have risen it. The smelter was sold by British group Corus in 2009 to BaseMet, owned in turn by investor Gary Klesch.

Greece's election on Sunday is expected to usher in such political instability that officials from the country's major parties are planning another possible election within months. That, in turn, could threaten the viability of Greece's latest bailout package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund and aggravate the euro zone's financial woes. A nation eager to punish its political establishment for Greece's financial and economic meltdown is set to give the country's two major established parties a drubbing this weekend.

Despite relatively strong economic growth, risks for banks are growing in Asia. Among the risks are a big increase in lending in recent years, rising individual debt levels in the region, headwinds from the European debt crisis and a slowdown in China. Investors and analysts are watching the numbers closely, and while only a few see a big spike in bad debts, many are worried profits may be squeezed, particularly if there are more hiccups in the global economy. Bankers across Asia agree losses will rise but only modestly.

A trustee for failed brokerage MF Global Inc. has begun litigation in the U.K. that aimed at recovering $700 million in customer funds, according to a statement, Bloomberg reported. The trustee, James Giddens, said in April that he had been working since November to return the money and filed a claim with the administrators overseeing the company’s MF Global UK Ltd. unit. According to today’s statement, an application for direction, which begins the legal process, has been filed with the English court.

He is not the best-known player in the euro crisis, but over the next couple of years Jens Weidmann, who this week celebrated his first anniversary as president of Germany’s Bundesbank, will be one of the most important. The euro zone’s future hinges on when and how its peripheral economies can return to growth. And, put crudely, their ability to do so will depend a lot on whether Mr Weidmann and the Bundesbank will tolerate higher inflation in Germany, The Economist reported. Asking a central banker to accept higher inflation may seem like asking a cardinal to accept more sin.

The prosecution said Thursday it will launch an investigation into savings banks subject to business suspension as early as next week. Now, up to four savings banks are expected to face administrative measures imposed by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), prompting concerns over another bank run, The Korea Times reported. “Basically, we will launch a probe at the request of the financial regulator after they announce the list of savings banks for business suspension,” a prosecutor said.

A cash offer of €2 billion for Eircom was rejected by the company’s examiner and its senior lenders in the past week, the Irish Times has learned. Mobile phone group 3 Ireland and its Hong Kong-based parent company Hutchison Whampoa, made the offer. The 3 group is the number four mobile operator in Ireland and was the unnamed bidder for Eircom referred to in a statement issued on Monday by the heavily-indebted company.