Sharp Corp. may turn to the last resort of Japanese companies facing potential bankruptcy -- the government, Bloomberg reported. With 200 billion yen ($2.5 billion) of convertible bonds maturing in 2013, Sharp may have to ask the state Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. or Innovation Network Corp. of Japan for money, said Fumiaki Sato, co-founder of Sangyo Sosei Advisory Inc., a turnaround advisory firm in Tokyo. Sharp has failed to win a planned 67 billion-yen equity investment from billionaire Terry Gou’s Foxconn Technology Group.

Korea’s total debt, combining those in private and public sectors, has reached 3 quadrillion won (about $2.75 trillion) in the second quarter, fanning worries that the country is increasingly exposed to a credit crisis, The Korea Times reported. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the financial industry, the nation’s total debt stood at 2.96 quadrillion won in June, accounting for 233.8 percent of its nominal gross domestic product (GDP). The combined debt increased by 103 trillion won, or 3.6 percent for six months since December.

The Hong Kong government’s toughest efforts yet to curb a growing asset bubble in the city’s property market probably won’t be the last as record-low mortgage rates drive demand for the world’s priciest homes, Bloomberg reported. Policy makers last month imposed an extra 15 percent tax on all home purchases by companies and non-permanent residents, adding to steps to boost the supply of housing and tighten lending as an influx of buyers from other parts of China underpin soaring prices. Untouched is the major stimulant fuelling prices: borrowing costs tied to the U.S.

Micron Technology's plan to acquire Japanese memory chipmaker Elpida took a big step toward completion after a Tokyo court approved the agreement and dismissed a rival plan promoted by a group of bondholders, Reuters reported. A district court in Tokyo said on Wednesday it was referring bankrupt Elpida's plan to be bought by U.S. chipmaker Micron to creditors for approval, according to a news release on Elpida's website.

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd., controlled by liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, is struggling to resume services after five straight years of losses and mounting debt forced it to ground planes. India’s bankruptcy laws aren’t helping, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. The carrier can’t emulate U.S. airlines that have gone through court-led Chapter 11 restructuring, as India doesn’t have any similar procedures for service providers. Under the existing law, a government body only oversees rehabilitation of companies with licenses to run factories.

The travel plans of thousands of Australians this summer are up in the air after Classic International Cruises was placed into voluntary administration today, The Australian reported. Lawler Partners was this morning appointed voluntary administrators and customers with cruises booked on the MV Athena cruise ship are being urged to contact them to make a claim. The company had been in talks to replace the Athena with a German ship after it was impounded in France over debts, but talks in Europe broke down.

China's banks have been building up their bulwarks against bad loans, underscoring the potential risk to the financial system in the world's No. 2 economy even amid other signs that growth is picking up again, The Wall Street Journal reported. China's biggest state-run banks since last week have reported double-digit profit growth for the third quarter—with some beating estimates—and flat or declining nonperforming loans, typically of 1% or less of their portfolios.

One of the state's biggest construction companies has collapsed, with more than 500 creditors believed to be owed millions of dollars, the Herald Sun reported. Southern Cross Constructions yesterday appointed accounting firm Cor Cordis as administrators despite four major projects in NSW still to be completed. While administrators say the majority of projects remain close to completion, the future of the company's 39 employees remains uncertain.

The world's biggest banks are drawing up tactics to strengthen their hand in future sovereign debt restructurings, as they seek to avoid another situation similar to the Greek debt talks, when government pushed them into accepting to tens of billions of euros in writedowns, Reuters reported on an International Financing Review story.

A U.S. judge told Japanese chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc he was "troubled" by the firm's inadequate efforts to keep creditors informed about its bankruptcy process, and warned he may upend its proposed sale to U.S. rival Micron Technology Inc. Elpida's main bankruptcy proceeding is being handled by a district court in Tokyo, but Christopher Sontchi, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing Elpida's parallel U.S. case, said the company was taking a risk by not keeping creditors better informed.