Icelandic lawmakers began a final debate on Thursday on a politically sensitive bill to authorise paying back Britain and the Netherlands more than $5 billion lost in Icelandic deposit accounts last year, Reuters reported. Parliament is expected to approve the government-sponsored bill, the passage of which is seen as key if Iceland hopes to receive further aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other lenders. A majority in the Icelandic parliament's budget committee thrashed out some final amendments this week, paving the way for approval when the vote takes place.

Icelandic politicians took a step on Saturday towards passing a controversial bill that will guarantee repayment of funds lost by British and Dutch savers in accounts of collapsed Landsbanki, a member of parliament said, Reuters reported. The parliament's budget committee agreed on a revised version of the so-called Icesave bill and is ready to put it before parliament for voting next week, said Thor Saari, who represents opposition party. the Civic Movement, in the committee.

Dutch brokerage Van der Moolen Holding NV won creditor protection from a Dutch court on Monday, saying it had a "very weak" liquidity position and was considering asset sales and significant writedowns, Reuters reported. The move came less than a month after the company's chief executive resigned, leaving it without a management board. On July 17, Van der Moolen said its top priority would be raising capital amid further losses. The 117-year-old firm was once one of the most recognizable names on Wall Street as a top market maker on the New York Stock Exchange.

Tiny Iceland was hit uniquely hard by the credit crisis, The Economist reported. Its banks had assets eight times its GDP. When they collapsed it seemed that a life of fishing and harvesting pelts beckoned for the country’s more sophisticated inhabitants. Yet Iceland is special in another way: it did not issue a blanket bail-out to its banks, but rather let bits of them go bust. That could mean the cost to its public is less devastating than once seemed possible. When the government stepped in last October, it only took over the domestic operations of the three big banks.

Loss-making Dutch hotel operator Golden Tulip will file for bankruptcy for 13 hotels in the Netherlands that it directly owns and operates, Reuters reported. The decision will not affect franchised or affiliated hotels, of which there are 720 in more than 50 countries, and the affected hotels will continue to operate during the proceedings, the company said. The group owns 60 hotels directly. The unlisted hotel chain had warned earlier this year that declining occupancy rates and the cost of investing in new hotels had led to losses.

Europe’s central banks are $40 billion poorer than they might have been after they followed a British move taken 10 years ago on Thursday to shrink the Bank of England’s gold reserves, analysis by the Financial Times has shown. London’s announcement on May 7 1999 that it would sell a large share of the Bank’s gold reserves in favour of assets offering a return, such as government bonds, was the high water mark of so-called “anti-gold” sentiment among European central banks.

The Dutch government may have offered too much help to an arm of Fortis NV when it nationalized the financial-services company last year, the European Union's competition regulator said, announcing that it was opening a formal investigation into the bailout, The Wall Street Journal reported. EU rules meant to ensure that foreign companies can compete with domestic ones in the common market restrict how governments can provide aid to businesses.

Belgium is scrambling to secure the planned sale of troubled banking group Fortis NV to BNP Paribas SA just days ahead of a shareholder vote after the largest shareholder, a Chinese insurer, said Sunday that it will vote to block the deal. The decision by China's Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. is a blow to the Belgian government's plans and the latest sign of growing activism by Chinese investors who took stakes in Western banks last year that have since turned sour, The Wall Street Journal reported.

LyondellBasell Industries, the world's third-largest independent chemical company, told lenders on Monday it is considering filing for bankruptcy protection amid plunging sales and a cash crunch, people familiar with the matter said. The Wall Street Journal reported that LyondellBasell, which is based in the Netherlands and has large U.S. operations, has hired bankruptcy counsel and told lenders it is trying to line up as much as $2 billion in bankruptcy financing. A Chapter 11 filing may be imminent.

European countries still deal with insolvent firms far more harshly than America does, and most such firms end up in liquidation, a recent Economist analysis found. They often treat creditors badly too, meaning that neither side ends up satisfied. Observers worry that Europe will cope with the coming flood of defaults far less effectively than America, meaning a slower recovery. In recent years several European countries have tried to change their systems so that companies have a better chance of survival.