Following its meeting with representatives from Quinn Insurance, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment has agreed to call on the Financial Regulator to allow Quinn Insurance Limited immediate access to participate again in all of the profitable sections of the UK insurance market in the Northern Ireland and in Britain.

EBS, the Educational Building Society, which was founded in the 1930s to provide housing loans for teachers, today reported a loss of almost €80m in 2009, after providing about €200m for bad debts.

Foreign governments have emerged as an engine of growth in the city’s real estate market, becoming major buyers of townhouses, office condominiums and other properties.

The European Central Bank (ECB) reported today that the annual rate of change of M3  — a broad measure of the money and credit supply in the Eurozone economy - - increased to -0.1% in March 2010 from -0.3% in February 2010 - -a slight improvement.

The Eurozone business climate index and economic sentiment indicator improved again in April.

Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities.

Eurozone retail sales survey data for April, from Markit signalled a fourth successive monthly fall. The rate of decline slowed further from February’s eleven-month record, but remained steeper than the long-run trend seen since January 2004. The headline seasonally adjusted Eurozone Retail PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index) rose to 47.2, from 46.9 in March. There is clearly a payback in Germany, for the end of the car scrappage scheme, which in 2009 boosted sales.

Fears that the Greek debt crisis would spread contagion to the weaker members of the 16-country common currency area, accelerated on Wednesday as Spain suffered a debt downgrade from Standard & Poor’s and the IMF managing director was reported to have said that €120bn would be needed to support a 3-year Greek adjustment programme. He also said every day a resolution to Greece’s problems was delayed, the risk grew of them spreading “far away”.

Republicans ended their three-day filibuster of a US financial regulatory reform bill Wednesday, agreeing with Democrats to begin a full Senate debate today.

Principal news stories from the Irish Independent, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Financial Times and New York Times.