Headlines

The private sector needs a more realistic involvement and more debt forgiveness in the sovereign debt crisis, Euromoney reported in a commentary. Private sector participants are urging governments to let them take more realistic losses from the sovereign debt crisis, after initially pushing to take haircuts on their Greek positions so as to restore debt sustainability.

One of Sydney's most famous car dealers, with a sprawling dealership that has become a city landmark, has hit a roadblock, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Rick Damelian's Damelian Group, which made headlines when it unsuccessfully tried to sell Lara Bingle's Aston Martin, was placed in receivership yesterday owing National Australia Bank about $80 million. The receiver, Ferrier Hodgson, moved quickly to calm customers by insisting no new car buyers would be left out of pocket.

Back in May, Chancellor Angela Merkel, little-known for strident pronunciations on foreign policy, lashed out against the indebted countries of Southern Europe, the International Herald Tribune reported. As Greece sought its second rescue package, Mrs. Merkel used an appearance in Meschede, a small town in western Germany, to lambaste the Southern Europeans for not working hard enough, taking long vacations and retiring early. “It’s not just about getting further into debt in countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal,” Mrs.

The U.K. economy has stalled, and by the end of next month it will be more or less the same size as it was the same time a year earlier. Bad news for British workers and businesses, and for Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, The Wall Street Journal reported. He now faces some tough calls. At risk is at least one of the two forms of credibility that are needed if he is to repair the government's tattered finances. If he is lucky, he will find a way of saving both. The bold austerity program Mr.

The Italian government moved Tuesday to revamp its embattled austerity package, in a bid to shore up political support for a plan that has drawn a wave of public protest, The Wall Street Journal reported. The government's latest raft of proposals—a mix of tax increases and pension overhauls—aims to cover funding gaps that emerged in Italy's €45.5 billion ($64.15 billion) austerity package after Rome hastily stripped away unpopular parts of the plan.

Greece's finance minister pledged Tuesday to speed up a series of delayed reforms meant to cut flab from the country's bloated public sector without immediate job losses, open up tightly regulated professions to competition and kick-start an ambitious privatization plan, the Associated Press reported. "Greece is not the pariah of the European Union, it is not a permanent sore and problem," Evangelos Venizelos told reporters after a cabinet meeting. "It is an equal, competitive country that has a very serious problem regarding its public debt and fiscal deficit.

The Wellington accountancy firm at the centre of multimillion-dollar fraud allegations against its owners has been placed in receivership and put up for sale, Stuff.co.nz reported. On Friday, Deloitte was appointed receiver of TPS Accounting – known until recently as Tax Planning Services – just eight weeks after its directors lost in the Supreme Court a nine-month battle to prevent their names being published. In July, David Ingram Rowley and Barrie James Skinner were revealed as the accountants at the centre of a $9 million tax fraud case, in which Inland Revenue claims it lost $2.9m.

The European Banking Authority is considering legally binding rules on bankers’ pay and bonuses, the executive director of the EU-wide banking regulator said in Dublin Monday, the Irish Times reported. Adam Farkas said the authority may issue technical standards creating rules governing remuneration in banking, but this was unlikely before the end of the year. The European Banking Authority was asked by the EU last month to examine pay ratios as part of draft laws on capital and liquidity in the banks, and has until the end of 2013 to do this.

Europe's sovereign debt crisis will stunt bank profit for years and could kill off the weakest, Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Josef Ackermann told industry bosses, amid intense scrutiny of the sector's finances, Reuters reported. "Prospects for the financial sector overall ...

Finland is stepping up efforts to find a compromise with Europe on its collateral demands amid International Monetary Fund opposition to forcing Greece to give euro members extra security for new loans, Bloomberg reported. “We will seek a solution together everyone can agree on and one that doesn’t hurt anyone,” Finland’s Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen told reporters Monday in Helsinki after meeting with European Union President Herman Van Rompuy.