Headlines

A significant Commercial Court ruling today means the family of bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn could avoid liability for loans of up to €2.34 billion if they prove claims Anglo Irish Bank made those loans to various Quinn companies for the unlawful purpose of supporting the bank's share price, the Irish Times reported. Legal sources believe the decision by Mr Justice Peter Charleton could have consequences for other cases.

The German government is set to resist or delay increasing the size of the eurozone’s financial “firewall” against contagion from the Greek debt crisis, in the face of mounting pressure from its partners, the International Monetary Fund and the US administration, the Financial Times reported. Steffen Seibert, spokesman for Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, insisted on Wednesday that Berlin saw no need to increase the size of the permanent €500bn European Stability Mechanism. “The German government’s position has not changed,” he said.

More than two years after the Dubai debt crisis erupted, the restructuring of corporate debts remains in legal limbo as it is unclear how banks can get back their money from government-linked enterprises in the Gulf state, Reuters reported. The impasse, which is aggravated by deficient bankruptcy legislation, is finally pushing some banks to lose patience and consider legal action. But their tougher stance is being matched by a hardening of the government's attitude to bailing out state-linked entities, raising the risk of further delays in completing these restructurings.

The European Commission proposed Wednesday to suspend €495 million ($602.2 million) in European Union budget funds for Hungary in 2013 unless it acts quickly to cut its deficit, The Wall Street Journal reported. Hungary's government found the suspension proposal unfounded, unfair and legally disputable, saying it has already taken prudent steps, while an economy ministry official said there was no "practical chance" that the funds would be suspended.

The head of AerCap Holdings NV said Wednesday that it repossessed two planes from India's Kingfisher Airlines Ltd., underscoring the challenges facing aircraft leasing companies after the collapse of as many as a dozen carriers so far this year, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported. Kingfisher has grounded planes and is seen by analysts as the next potential casualty of the tough industry environment that has already claimed large carriers such as Hungary's Malev and Spanair in Spain.

State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to pay out up to 400 million pounds in bonuses to its corporate banking staff as it gets ready to unveil a full-year loss forecast at up to 1.2 billion pounds on Thursday, Reuters reported. The move is expected to increase anger that the bank is still paying large salaries while thousands, including more than 30,000 layoffs at the bank in the last three years, lose their jobs in a weakening global economy.

Arctic Glacier Income Fund said Wednesday it will file for a court supervised restructuring under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act that the ice maker said could result in a sale or recapitalization of the business, The Globe and Mail reported on a Canadian Press story. The process has the support both of Arctic Glacier's secured lenders and two of its unitholders, Coliseum Capital Management and Talamod Asset Management, the fund said.

The long-awaited deal on a rescue plan for Greece still leaves Athens with a huge debt burden and implementation challenges that threaten to derail the program and prevent the country's return to growth after several years of a devastating recession that has spurred social upheaval and political uncertainty, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The High Court has begun hearing a challenge by Treasury Holdings against the National Assets Management Agency’s decision to appoint receivers to some of its property assets in Ireland, the Irish Times reported. The court was told today the agency made a “dramatic” decision last December to proceed with appointing receivers over assets of various Treasury Holdings companies without telling the developer which was then in advanced negotiations with investors.

The European Central Bank wants its second offer of cheap ultra-long funds next week to be its last, putting the onus back on governments to secure the euro zone's longer-term future, Reuters reported. Powerful members of the central bank's 23-man governing council are privately hoping demand at the February 29 auction will fall well short of the 1 trillion euros (837.8 billion pounds) some expect, backing their view that it should be the last.