Asia Pacific

Ssangyong Motor, which practically ground to a halt on January 9 when it filed for court receivership, will resume operations on February 2, The Chosun Ilbo reported. Judges from the Seoul Central District Court will inspect the automaker's only plant for finished cars on Thursday to determine whether to grant receivership to the automaker sometime in the first week of February. Ssangyong suspended operations after filing for court receivership because some subcontractors refused to supply parts since they had not been paid for goods already delivered when the carmaker hit the skids.

The Japanese government said it is considering supplying public funds to companies hurt by the global financial crisis, using the Development Bank of Japan and other state-owned organizations, The Wall Street Journal reported. Tuesday's statement by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry shows that Japan, like other crisis-hit nations, is thinking of channeling public money into its battered and credit-short private companies.

As Timothy F. Geithner moved closer yesterday to confirmation as U.S. Treasury secretary, he signaled a more confrontational approach toward China, bluntly stating that the new administration thinks Beijing is "manipulating" its currency and it will act "aggressively" using "all the diplomatic avenues" to change China's currency practices, The Washington Post reported.

China sentenced two men to death and imposed life in prison on Sanlu Group Co.’s former head for their involvement in the tainted-milk scandal that claimed the lives of at least six babies, Xinhua news agency said. Sanlu’s former chairwoman Tian Wenhua was sentenced to life in prison by the Shijiazhuang Intermediate People’s Court today, the news agency said. Zhang Yujun, who made and sold melamine- laced protein powder, and Geng Jinping, who produced and marketed toxic food, were sentenced to death, Xinhua said.

Singapore, facing its worst economic slump in four decades, changed its law to help people avoid bankruptcy as job losses and loan defaults rise, Bloomberg reported. The nation’s parliament passed a bill yesterday that will allow people with debt of as much as S$100,000 ($66,600) to work out a repayment plan with their creditors without being declared bankrupt, avoiding what the government calls the “attendant disabilities and social stigma” that come with insolvency.

Ineos Group Holdings, Georgia Gulf Corp. and Chemtura Corp. are crashing on a mountain of takeover debt and may follow Lyondell Chemical Co. into bankruptcy, trading in their bonds shows. The combination of $11.7 billion in debt, frozen credit markets and the global recession are forcing the companies to negotiate with creditors to loosen terms of their loans. A glut in supplies that drove prices of polypropylene down by half since October will make it even harder for plastics makers to meet debt payments, just as manufacturers in the Middle East add millions of tons of new supplies.

Amid the ongoing restructuring processes of Nortel Networks, the Philippine operations will remain safe, Inquirer.net reported. Nortel Asia Communications Director Matthew Wray said operations in the Philippines, as well as their other affiliates across Asia, are working with partners and suppliers to avoid operational disruptions. "Our affiliates across Asia, including the Philippines, are not subject to the creditor protection filings in North America and Europe and are expected to continue to operate as normal," Wray said in an email.

Australian Discount Retail Ltd., owner of the Crazy Clark’s/Go-Lo chain of variety stores, will be sold after a syndicate of lenders owed A$96 million ($63 million) appointed a receiver, Bloomberg reported. The first step will be to sell ADR’s Crazy Clark’s/Go-Lo, and Sam’s Warehouse businesses, receiver Ferrier Hodgson Corporate Communications Director Michael Cave said in a telephone interview. ADR, which has 402 stores and 2,700 workers, was created in 2005 by private equity firms Catalyst and CHAMP.

The board of Vita-Galilee Fruit Ltd. (Vita-Pri Galil) filed with the Haifa District Court an objection to receivership and foreclosure of the liens filed by Bank Leumi and Israel Discount Bank, Globes Online reported. The company and its subsidiaries will also convene shareholders and creditors' meetings to submit to them a recovery plan. Vita entered into receivership when Bank Leumi and Discount Bank refused to again postpone repayment of the company's debts. On Friday, receivers were appointed to the company after Bank Leumi and Discount Bank filed an ex parte request with the court.

TPI Polene Pcl, Thailand’s third-biggest cement maker, climbed the most in one month in Bangkok trading after a court allowed the company to exit receivership. The Bangkok-based company rose 7.7 percent to 3.34 baht at the close, its biggest gain since Dec. 19. The stock has advanced 5.7 percent this year compared with a 3.7 percent decline in the benchmark SET Index. The Central Bankruptcy Court issued an order to terminate the court-supervised rehabilitation proceedings, the company said in a filing to the stock exchange today.