Johnny R Callison

Ireland will need some sort of euro-zone deal to relieve its huge banking debts for it to make further progress toward securing a permanent return to capital markets, the head of the National Treasury Management Agency, the country's debt office, said Sunday.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he is not strictly opposed to splitting up universal banks, according to an interview published Sunday in Welt am Sonntag.

The chairman of the sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling Christian Democrats Sunday expressed skepticism about the European Central Bank renewing purchases of the government bonds of weakened euro-zone members.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) is set to announce Friday it has put aside an extra 100 million pounds to cover the cost of mis-selling payment protection insurance, the Sunday Times said without citing sources.

Korean Air Lines Co. (003490.SE) plans to bid for a stake in Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (047810.SE), or KAI, and has recently selected Bank of America Merrill Lynch to manage the deal, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported on its website Sunday, citing sources in the investment banking

HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) is expected to make a $200 million provision for costs after the bank came under scrutiny for failing to combat money laundering in its U.S. operations, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Aviva PLC (AV) has received a number of unsolicited approaches from financial and private equity buyers for its U.S. life division, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

South Korea's KT Corp. (KT, 030200.SE) apologized Sunday after acknowledging that the personal data for 8.7 million of the company's subscribers had been hacked and said it will devote efforts to prevent any recurrences.

Hyundai Motor Co. Ltd. (HYMLY, 005380.SE) will recall an estimated 221,630 automobiles in the U.S. due to a possible defect in the airbags, according to a posting on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website.

The USA men's basketball team will begin their quest for a second straight Olympic gold medal Sunday with their first game against France.