Asia Pacific

Korea Line Corp., South Korea’s second-largest operator of dry-bulk ships, filed for receivership after a global oversupply of vessels caused rates to tumble to the lowest in almost two years, Bloomberg reported. The shipping line intends to maintain operations, it said today in an e-mailed statement, after making the filing at the Seoul Central District Court. The company, which didn’t say how large its debts were, is seeking to freeze assets. Korea Line, unprofitable in six of the past seven quarters, halted its shares as it works to restructure debt.

Dubai Group LLC, the investment company seeking payment relief on $6 billion of loans, appointed eight banks to represent creditors in two committees as it tries to speed up agreement on a debt restructuring plan, Bloomberg reported. The committees were set up to bring the restructuring talks to a quicker conclusion, said a spokeswoman for Dubai Group, who declined to be identified because of company policy. The members have been selected to be representative of all lender groups, she said by telephone.

Japanese private-equity fund Advantage Partners LLP is in talks with creditors about giving up board seats at Tokyo Star Bank Ltd. and control over the eventual sale of the lender, a person familiar with the matter said, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. Dallas-based investor Lone Star Funds and other lenders are discussing with Advantage Partners restructuring the roughly Y160 billion in loans, worth $1.9 billion at current exchange rates, that the Japanese fund took out to buy Tokyo Star, according to people familiar with the matter.

Hong Kong bankruptcy petitions totalled 704 in December, up 3.4 percent from November but down 22.4 percent compared with the same month last year, government data showed on Friday, Reuters reported. The number of bankruptcy petitions totalled 9,102 for the whole of 2010, down 42.3 percent from a year earlier. Bankruptcy orders stood at 9,163 for the year 2010, down 43.3 percent from a year ago. Hong Kong's economy has bounced back strongly from the global financial crisis.

Christchurch finance company Finance & Leasing says its inability to meet the new Reserve Bank capital ratio requirements has forced it into receivership – and that it's not the only company in that position, Stuff.co.nz reported. Director Kipp Alexander said the company had remained solvent throughout the financial crisis and recession, but because it could not meet the requirements in time, it could not obtain approval from the Companies Office for its prospectus extension, which was lodged in December.

Perth property developer Luke Saraceni transferred $1.33 million into one of his private companies as receivers prepared to swoop on the troubled Raine Square project last week, creditors were told yesterday, The Australian reported. Administrator Bryan Hughes, of Pitcher Partners, said he was investigating the transaction, which was likely to fall under the insolvency transaction provisions of the Corporations Act.

Drydocks World (DDW), a unit of debt-ridden Dubai World, expects talks on terms of its core debt to be concluded with months, after agreeing a new $200 million credit facility, an official statement said, Reuters reported. The shipbuilding arm of Dubai World said last year it was in talks with banks to restructure $1.7 billion in debt maturing in November 2011.

One year after its spectacular bankruptcy filing, Japan Airlines on Wednesday faced a lawsuit from 146 former pilots and cabin attendants calling for their jobs back after being made redundant, Agence France-Presse reported. The case, filed with the Tokyo District Court, claims JAL management did not do enough to avoid the layoffs. The company's court-approved rehabilitation plan calls for cutting about 16,000 jobs.

The listed pub fund ING Real Estate Entertainment Fund’s chances of ever getting millions of dollars in rent from its largest tenant appear slim, after Icon Hospitality was placed into receivership today, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Icon, which owns the leasehold to 11 hotels in and around Sydney, was placed into receivership by its bankers, Commonwealth Bank. It is owned by prominent hoteliers Damien Reed and Peter Wynne, and owes more than $60 million to the bank.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Japan is in a “crisis” comparable to the bankruptcy that Japan Airlines Corp. faced a year ago, Bloomberg reported. Kan spoke after meeting with JAL chairman Kazuo Inamori, whose airline filed for bankruptcy protection on Jan. 19, 2010. The carrier is shrinking overseas routes and cutting aircraft, having eliminated about 14,500 jobs to lower costs. Japan Air had a third-quarter operating profit of 110 billion yen ($1.3 billion), compared with a 96 billion yen loss a year earlier.