Bank chiefs are set to be quizzed today on how they propose to offer families with variable rate mortgages a reprieve or otherwise face the threat of Government action.

Senior debt advisers say the last of the senior bank chiefs to appear in front of the Finance Committee puts the contentious issue of home owners paying high standard variable rates firmly back in the Government’s court.

The powers of the Credit Review Office have been strengthened further, as it is now qualified to run the rule over rejected loans from Ulster Bank, rather than just Bank of Ireland and AIB.

Ulster Bank turned an opening quarter operating profit just shy of €70m as lending increased across its business, the bank’s parent group said yesterday.

Bank of Ireland has signalled that it will continue to seek shortfall costs from people even after they have lost their home.

Ulster Bank has signalled it will not be cutting its variable rates, despite pressure from Government and calls on them to do so.

Ulster Bank chief executive Jim Brown is to leave the his role at the head of the bank to take up a position in the UK.

Ulster Bank chief executive Jim Brown is comfortable with the €453m impairment release in the 2014 accounts, despite recent Central Bank warnings about the level of bad loan writebacks among the banks.

Ulster Bank lobbied for an upper limit of more than twice the cut-off point the Central Bank will allow mortgages with a 10% deposit to be approved for.

Boxing great Muhammad Ali was hospitalised with a mild case of pneumonia that was caught early and should result in a short hospital stay, a spokesman said.

A major probe by a law firm found no evidence that Ulster Bank put viable companies out of business in order to seize their assets.

In the past, the relationship between interest rate movements and property bubbles was pretty straightforward: Central banks lowered rates to stoke economic activity.

Welcome to your Friday morning briefing. Let us ensure you’re up to speed on what’s happening and are prepared for the day ahead.

The chief executive of Ulster Bank, Jim Brown, has warned that the new Central Bank rules on 20% deposits will weigh on the ability of first-time buyers to get on the property ladder.

The head of Ulster Bank said most first-time buyers won't be able to get a mortgage under new rules from the Central Bank.

The uncertainty over Ulster Bank’s future has come to an end, with parent group Royal Bank of Scotland confirming that the subsidiary remains a core element of its overall business.

Ulster Bank has confirmed it will continue operations in Ireland.

Peyton Manning broke Brett Favre’s all-time record for touchdown passes, leading Denver to a 42-17 rout of San Francisco to cap a scintillating Sunday in the NFL.

A huge reduction in the cost of mortgages in arrears helped Ulster Bank to its first profit in six years, it was announced yesterday.

State-backed British lender Royal Bank of Scotland has been formally advised by Morgan Stanley to sell a majority stake in its Irish unit, Ulster Bank, the Sunday Business Post reported.

Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross McEwan has confirmed that there have been negotiations with private equity firms over a possible takeover of Ulster Bank.

A management-supported private equity takeover of Ulster Bank is being considered by Royal Bank of Scotland.

Ulster Bank has posted its first quarterly profit since 2009 on the back of an 80% reduction in impairment losses.

Ulster Bank is confident that an extension of a probe into alleged fraudulent activity by its parent, RBS — to cover its Irish operations — will find it innocent of any wrongdoing.

About 35% of Ulster Bank’s €6.5bn SME loan book is distressed, management said yesterday.

Almost half of Ulster Bank mortgage customers in long-term arrears are in the process of having their homes repossessed, an Oireachtas committee has heard.

Ulster Bank says more than 3,000 customers in mortgage arrears are currently in legal proceedings.

Four senior Bank officials will come before the Oireachtas finance committee this week to give TDs an update on the mortgage crisis.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group is weighing up the sale of over €400m of Irish hotel assets.

State-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland has commissioned investment bank Morgan Stanley to advise it on potential merger opportunities for its Irish unit, Ulster Bank, the business’s chief executive was quoted as saying yesterday.

Ulster Bank may have recorded another €1bn-plus euro loss, but it is committed to staying in the country and playing its role in the economic recovery, according to chief executive Jim Brown.

Ulster Bank made an operating loss of £1.457bn (€1.7bn) in 2013 compared with £1.040bn the previous year, as the company accelerated the transfer of its non-core assets to its bad bank.

The head of the Ulster Bank has warned of future branch closures in response to a huge ongoing shift towards on-line banking.

As mourners filed past the coffin of the slain John F Kennedy in the US capital, 140 miles away the Washington Redskins kicked off against the Philadelphia Eagles.

It is expected that Ulster Bank chief executive, Jim Brown, will be called before a UK House of Commons Select Committee on banking in Northern Ireland over the next few weeks.

More than a third of Ulster Bank customers in mortgage arrears are refusing to pay or make contact with the lender, an Oireachtas probe into the debt crisis has heard.

The Chief Executive of Ulster Bank in Ireland has said there is evidence that some Irish people are deliberately not paying their mortgages.

The Chief Executive of Bank of Ireland Richie Boucher has said his bank has made a profit for the taxpayer.

Chief executives from Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank will be the latest to face the Oireachtas Finance Committee today.

Roughly 35% of Ulster Bank’s customers in mortgage arrears are not making any payments, according to the bank’s chief executive, Jim Brown.

The Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has said the Government does not have the information that has led Ulster Bank to claim 35% of its mortgages in default are "strategic".

Ulster Bank is to cut employee numbers by up to 1,800 as it unveiled a plan to close dozens of branches.

Ulster Bank has announced up to another 1,800 job cuts and around 40 branch closures under plans to return it to profit within the next three years.

Ulster Bank has said it is continuing to make good progress in restructuring its core business, after seeing first-quarter declines in operating and impairment losses, a levelling out in mortgage arrears cases and a rise in customer deposits.