An application to extend developer Sean Dunne’s bankruptcy will be heard at the High Court next month. Ms Justice Caroline Costello has fixed January 31st for the hearing, expected to last three days. Issues concerning whether there will be any cross-examination of either Mr Dunne or Chris Lehane, the official administering his bankruptcy, will be decided later. The matter was before the judge in the High Court bankruptcy list for case management purposes on Monday, when she told Mark Sanfey SC, for Mr Lehane, and Bill Shipsey SC, for Mr Dunne, it would be heard on January 31st.

Ireland has ranked fifth among European states in terms of the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) held by its banks, according to a report by the European Banking Authority in London, the Irish Times reported. The analysis shows Ireland with an NPL ratio of just more than 20 per cent, ranking fifth behind Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Slovenia. Across the board, the rate was 5.4 per cent with Luxembourg the best in class with a figure of about 1.5 per cent.

A UK distressed debt investor that has been at the centre of a rescue plan for Italy’s third biggest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Sienna, has emerged as the leading bidder for a niche bank being sold in Dublin, the Irish Times reported. Sources said Attestor Capital in London is the preferred bidder for EAA Covered Bond Bank in Dublin, which is being sold under the wind-up of failed German bank WestLB.

Ulster Bank is likely to face more cuts as its parent RBS tries to boost capital after failing Bank of England stress tests, according to analysts. They also expect the Edinburgh-based lender’s investment banking activities to be curbed, the Irish Times reported. RBS may need to dispose of £44 billion (€52 billion) of risk-weighted assets to improve its capital buffers, analysts at Barclays wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. “The current Irish efficiency position looks untenable,” UBS analysts wrote on Wednesday.

The High Court has moved to put a biomass-fuelled power plant under construction in Co Mayo into liquidation after efforts to come up with a rescue plan for the insolvent company, with €125 million of debts, failed, the Irish Times reported. The court appointed Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton on Wednesday afternoon as liquidator to Mayo Renewable Power, which initially sought court protection from its creditors under examinership in August.

Ireland needs to act “urgently”to put in place by 2020 an auto-enrolment system, which would boost private pension coverage, the Irish Times reported. “A road map needs to be put in place for the introduction of an auto-enrolment system for all Irish businesses. I am calling in the Government to make it an urgent priority to ensure that an auto-enrolment system is put into Irish law by 2020. I believe this can be done through crossparty agreement,” Brian Hayes MEP said. His comments come against a background of declining private pension coverage in Ireland.

The special liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation have secured court orders approving a process to repay an estimated €100 million in overcharged interest by the former Anglo Irish Bank. The orders were sought arising from a High Court finding of 2011 that the bank had overcharged John Morrissey, Palmerston Road, Ranelagh, €143,676 in interest on an overall sum of some €31.6 million allegedly owed to it, the Irish Times reported.

A High Court judge has directed Gayle Dunne, wife of property developer Seán Dunne, must hand over certain documents related to alleged transfers by her husband to her of assets valued at about €100 million. The documents include Ms Dunne’s tax returns from 2005-2014, insofar as they relate to those assets. Chris Lehane, the official administering Mr Dunne’s Irish bankruptcy, sought the documents for his proceedings against Ms Dunne, disputing two alleged asset transfer agreements between Mr Dunne and his wife in 2005 and 2008.

The liquidator of Rush Credit Union is expected to market its loan book for sale this week after the High Court ordered the winding up of the community lender in north Co Dublin, the Irish Times reported. McStay Luby will seek to find a buyer for the loan book, which is understood to have a face value of about €9 million and comprises about 1,500 loans. The liquidators will also seek to sell the credit union’s offices in the villages of Rush and Lusk. These were valued last year at €900,000.

The liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) are set to issue an initial payment to unsecured creditors within a fortnight, including a cheque of about €275 million for the State, the Irish Times reported. However, a group of junior bondholders in the bank, who refused to share in the group’s losses during the crisis, face waiting at least two years before they discover how much of the €285 million they are owned will be repaid.