EU to respond to concerns as bank talks sputter

European Union leaders will this week attempt to stave off a resurgence of market tremors following a breakdown in talks on setting up unified banking rules. Euroarea bonds fell after negotiations among the 27-member bloc’s finance ministers stalled over the weekend in Luxembourg. They failed to agree on assigning losses at failing banks as part of proposed rules on bank resolution and recovery. They will regroup tomorrow, before EU leaders gather the next day for a summit in Brussels. “We shouldn’t be lulled by the current calm in the markets,” German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in a statement after the meeting. “Rather, we

While the battle for ever greater market share rages on among supermarket chains duering this crisis period, sector experts stress that its future shape will depend on changes to market rules such as the extension of opening hours to Sundays and permission to sell regulated commodities including drugs and tobacco. should quickly ensure that we’re prepared for every eventuality.”

Qatar visit.

Fitch-BoC.

Deputy Development Minister Notis Mitarakis met yesterday in Doha with the managing director of Qatar Holdings, Ahmad Mohamed AlSayed, as part of an offical visit to the gulf state.

Fitch Ratings has maintained Bank of Cyprus’s covered bonds secured by Cypriot assets on Rating Watch Negative, it announced yesterday. The covered bonds’ B rating was originally placed on “negative” on March 28. The covered bonds have been maintained on “negative” as there have been no material changes since March with regard to the road map for the recapitalization of BoC and the restructuring of the island’s banking sector, which could affect the covered bonds rating. Fitch announced it is reviewing the impact of the current recession on the performance of the residential mortgage portfolio.

Serbian telecoms.

Telenor DOO, the Serbian unit of Telenor ASA, the Nordic region’s largest telecommunications operator, saw its market share shrink in the Balkan country as Vip Mobile DOO, Telekom Austria AG’s mobile services unit, stepped up competition. The Fornebu, Norway-based Telenor and MT:S, the mobile arm of state-owned Telekom Srbija AD, had their market shares decline to 42 percent and 38 percent respectively last year, from 44 percent and 39 percent in 2011, the Agency for Electronic Communications in the capital Belgrade said in a report yesterday. Vip Mobile said it increased its share of customers as they switched operators lured by better offers.