The Northern Ireland Office said a number of issues were raised with the government in the margins of the St Andrew's talks "that were not connected to the negotiations and, as is the usual practice, were taken away for consideration".

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Taxing depositors is seen by the market as a radical change from the usual practice, and doing so would give depositors in other debt-ridden countries an incentive to shift their money to banks in other countries, most likely Germany.

FORBES: Barclays Says Cyprus Bank Crisis Won't Spread To Southern Europe

One plan is to extend the practice usual under English-style (as opposed to New York) law of allowing a majority of bondholders to agree to a rescheduling, rather than insisting on unanimity.

ECONOMIST: Bond defaults

But isn't it modern practice to retire at the usual age, or is a constitutional monarch as immutable as the pope?

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