Headlines

The fitness of senior executives and board members at the banks to perform their jobs will be reviewed by the Central Bank as part of sweeping changes to the vetting of bankers at Irish lenders, the Irish Times reported. The head of financial regulation at the Central Bank, Matthew Elderfield, said the review would examine the fitness and probity of all executive and non-executive directors at banks which have received Government support.

Switzerland's banking regulator Tuesday said regulation aimed at limiting the threat that UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group pose to Switzerland's economy should they collapse needs to include measures for the orderly liquidation of part of a troubled bank's operations in a crisis, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The move could have implications for UBS's and Credit Suisse's structure because it represents more measures after the so-called too-big-to-fail draft law, which the government wants to send to parliament before April 24 when a consultation period ends this week.

A real estate pricing bubble has pushed the cost of homes to more than 140 times the annual incomes of most Kenyans, making it difficult for millions of families to realise their homeownership dreams, Business Daily Africa reported. Kenyans aspiring to own homes can only do so if they are ready to pay at the rate of 148 times their annual income making them the most disadvantaged lot on the continent when it comes to homeownership, according to a new study of Africa’s housing market.

Members of the Vietnamese government will not be punished for problems at a state-owned shipbuilder whose debts threatened the country's global financial reputation, a top official said Monday, Agence France-Presse reported. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung made the comments to the National Assembly, where some lawmakers last year said the government should be held accountable for the scandal at Vinashin (Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group).

Linklaters has filed negligence claims against Italian law firm Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners relating to advice given by the magic circle firm to Credit Suisse on a deal with Italian food company Parmalat nearly 10 years ago, LegalWeek.com reported. The claims, which were filed in the Admiralty and Commercial division of the High Court earlier this month (10 March), see Linklaters suing the Italian independent law firm as well as launching five claims against individuals.

When Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne presents his budget to the House of Commons on Wednesday, he will seek to make the point that while the U.K. is ardently sticking to the course of eliminating the budget deficit, there won't be additional pain for squeezed households, The Wall Street Journal reported. The first part of this message—reasserting his commitment to the ambitious austerity measures that will result in £111 billion of fiscal tightening by 2015—leaves Mr.

EU finance ministers opened the door to debt restructuring in the euro zone with a deal to force bailout losses on private investors if aid recipients “cannot realistically” restore debt to a sustainable path, the Irish Times reported. The agreement on the scope and scale of the new European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which ends months of difficult talks, will be put to EU leaders at a summit on Thursday and Friday for final approval.

Canadian drug maker Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc. says a "large consortium" of its creditors is backing the reorganization strategy it proposed in its home country, and it's asking a U.S. bankruptcy judge to sign off on the restructuring plan that it will put before a Canadian court on April 6, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. In papers filed Friday with the U.S.

Investment Dar Co., the owner of half of Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd., said its management and the coordinating committee that represents its creditors agreed to the final details of a restructuring plan, Bloomberg reported. The details of the "long form term-sheet, which sets out the mechanics of the proposed restructuring plan, were agreed" in meeting on March 16, Kuwait-based Investment Dar said in an e-mailed statement Sunday. The plan is under review by a Kuwaiti court, which holds its next hearing on April 7, it said.

Ratings agency Standard & Poors has withdrawn its "D" long-term corporate credit rating on Czech gaming company Sazka after the indebted company's assets were placed under preliminary insolvency administration, Reuters reported. S&P said it also withdrew its "D" rating on Sazka's 215 million euros ($303.7 million) secured notes due in 2021. The indebted national lottery operator is facing insolvency claims by two major creditors who, along with another group of investors, are battling to take control over the firm.