Property developer Sean Dunne has thrown in the towel on his attempt to walk away from about €700 million in debts through the US bankruptcy courts, the Irish Times reported. In a major victory for the National Asset Management Agency, his biggest creditor, Mr Dunne has abandoned his bid to seek a fresh financial start.

A dispute over whether bankrupt developer Seán Dunne validly transferred various property assets to his wife Gayle, including a hotel in South Africa, is to be fast-tracked by the Commercial Court, the Irish Times reported. Mr Dunne has debts of up to €700 million and Chris Lehane, the official administering his bankruptcy, has brought proceedings against Gayle Dunne seeking to set aside purported agreements under which Mr Dunne allegedly transferred his interest in a number of properties in Ireland and South Africa to his wife.

The Central Bank of Ireland has proposed a raft of new regulations for credit unions, covering a number of areas including reserves, liquidity, lending, investments, controls, and reporting requirements, the Irish Times reported. The draft regulations are designed to ensure that “appropriate limits and requirements” are in place for the credit union sector. Under the new rules, the maximum amount that somebody can save with a credit union will be limited to €100,000, half the level currently in place.

Members of the family of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn want court orders permitting them cross-examine Irish Bank Resolution Corporation special liquidator Kieran Wallace regarding claims they may be hiding up to €500 million in undisclosed assets from the bank, the Irish Times reported. The Quinns say those claims, made on foot of information from unidentified informants, are “scurrilous lies”. Despite orders obtained by IBRC from the London and US courts for disclosure of documents, nothing has been obtained to support the allegations, they also say.

The liquidator of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation has secured a preferred bidder to acquire the assurance arm of the former Anglo Irish Bank, the Irish Times reported. The new owner of the unit is understood to be a large European investor, though the deal remains the subject of final due diligence and regulatory approval. The Department of Finance has to approve any major sale of the bank, whose liquidation is being handled by accountancy firm KPMG. IBRC Assurance has a range of property investments made on behalf of the self-administered pension funds of hundreds of clients.

Ms Justice Marie Baker appointed Declan McDonald of PwC as interim examiner to Karen Millen Irl Ltd, Warehouse Fashion Irl Ltd and Coast Stores Irl Ltd following petitions by Rossa Fanning on behalf of the companies, the Irish Times reported. The court heard the companies have a reasonable prospect of survival if a number of conditions are met including renegotiation of rents and closure of uneconomic stores.

The consequences of the Central Bank’s proposals to restrict mortgage lending will be “far more far reaching than many realise”, PIBA, the Professional Insurance Brokers Association, warned today, the Irish Times reported. Speaking at the organisation’s annual industry awards ceremony, Rachel Doyle, chief operations officer warned about the impact of the Central Bank’s proposal which would see the majority of mortgage applicants required to come up with a 20 per cent deposit for a mortgage.

Ireland moved close to an accord on repaying International Monetary Fund bailout loans early, with Sweden set to become the last European Union nation to agree, the Irish Times reported. The Swedish parliament’s finance committee today unanimously proposed to allow Ireland to refinance IMF funds without triggering similar payments on its lower-cost European loans. Sweden is the last EU approval needed, and a vote by parliament in Stockholm is scheduled for November 19, Lars Widlund, a civil servant at the committee, said by phone today.

Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) has asked the Supreme Court to overturn a decision permitting the family of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn advance legal claims which could lead to their avoiding liability for €2.34 billion loans, the Irish Times reported. Patricia Quinn and her five children say they had no knowledge of activities surrounding the loans made to Quinn companies by IBRC’s predecessor, Anglo Irish Bank. They claim the loans were illegal because they were used to support the bank’s share price and they cannot therefore be made liable for them.

Irish MEP and former Government minister Brian Hayes said today the Central Bank’s plan to require borrowers to have a 20 per cent deposit to get a home loan was “unfair”, and called for cheaper longer term loans to be introduced.