Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz ordered an investigation on Tuesday into local banks' offering of mortgage loans in Swiss francs, a practice which has put 550,000 Polish homeowners at the mercy of financial markets since the franc surged last week. Separately, the heads of major banks were due to meet the finance minister, regulators and Central Bank governor Marek Belka at 1300 GMT, a day after Belka called for "extraordinary" measures and a possible cut in mortgage rates to provide relief for borrowers. Many home buyers in central and eastern Europe took out Swiss franc-denominated mortgages in the early 2000s. ... (full story)