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 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.

Contempt of court proceedings have been initiated against the bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn, his son Seán Quinn jnr, and his nephew, Peter Darragh Quinn, the Irish Times reported. The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, yesterday filed a motion in the High Court seeking to have the three found in contempt of court for breaches of an injunction preventing them from moving certain assets. A spokesman for the Quinns said they rejected the allegations being made against them and would defend their position “vigorously”.

Another minister has joined the calls on the EU to show solidarity with Ireland by agreeing to a deal on the country’s bank debt, the Irish Times reported. Speaking in Paris at the weekend, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said Europe had an obligation to do a deal on the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes in recognition of Ireland having “stood in the breach” when the global financial crisis struck.

National Irish Bank has reported increased losses for the year to the end of December, as it continues to set aside money to cope with potential loan losses, RTÉ News reported. NIB, which is owned by Danske Bank, said its pre-tax losses for 2011 came to €805m as it set aside €850m for loan impairment charges. The bank had reported pre-tax losses of €618m in 2010, when it had set aside €667m for bad debts. The bank said that its income fell by 13% to €141m due to reduced customer demand and the impact of impaired loans.

The family of Seán Quinn has told the Commercial Court the €2.5 million maximum fine the Central Bank could impose on Anglo Irish Bank over €2.34 billion in loans allegedly made for the unlawful purpose of supporting its share price would amount only to the “mildest slap on the wrist” for the bank, the Irish Times reported. The family is entitled to advance arguments that the bank breached Irish and European laws against market manipulation in making such loans and was therefore not entitled to recover the loans from them, their counsel Bill Shipsey SC said.

A quarter of all Irish mortgage debt is susceptible to being written down under proposals in the Government’s personal insolvency legislation, the ratings agency Moody’s has estimated. This would amount to about €35 billion of Irish mortgage debt, including buy-to-let mortgages, based on the statistics from the Central Bank, the Irish Times reported. Moody’s said the proposals announced last month, which include measures to write off mortgage debt in out-of-court settlements, was “credit negative” for bonds backed by residential mortgages sold by Irish institutions.

British bank Lloyds has appointed a receiver to three hotels, including the Burlington in Dublin, over debts of more than €200 million owed by property developer Bernard McNamara, the Irish Times reported. Paul McCann of Grant Thornton has taken control of the hotels, including the five-star Parknasilla in Co Kerry and the Cork International Airport Hotel, as well as the former Ormond Hotel on the north quays in Dublin. The Ormond closed in 2006 shortly after Mr McNamara purchased the property. He tried unsuccessfully to sell it in 2009.

Four companies each day went out of business in January, new data showed today, the Irish Times reported. The report from InsolvencyJournal.ie showed a total of 135 companies went bust last month, a rise of 39 per cent compared with 2011. The majority of the failed companies were in the services sector, accounting for 32 per cent of the overall total, while the construction industry accounted for 26 per cent. The retail industry, hit by falling consumer demand amid the current economic fragility, saw the number of insolvencies rise by 66 per cent in the month.

Dublin has announced an overhaul of its bankruptcy and personal insolvency laws designed to tackle a growing mortgage debt crisis and curb “bankruptcy tourism” to the UK, the Financial Times reported. Legislation published on Wednesday would enable people struggling with unsustainable debts to emerge from bankruptcy after three years, rather than the current 12 years. It would also enable consumers on a case-by-case basis to write down mortgage debt while continuing to live in their homes.