China's massive economic-stimulus program has supported near double-digit growth, but also Suncity Co , a condominium developer based in Japan's quake-hit northeast, said it filed for bankruptcy protection with the Sendai District Court on Monday with 24.9 billion yen ($326.5 million) in liabilities after sales plunged in the wake of the March disaster, Reuters reported. Investment firm FinTech Global said it would back Suncity's restructuring. Suncity, which employs 159 people, said that it plans to delist its shares from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
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Terry Serepisos Declared Bankrupt

Wellington businessman and former Phoenix football owner Terry Serepisos has been declared bankrupt in the High Court at Wellington after his last-minute bid for more time to pay debts was rejected, The New Zealand Herald reported. Judge Gendall granted an application by South Canterbury Finance, owed some $22.5 million, to declare Serepisos bankrupt after he failed to convince the court to grant him four more days to secure funding from a Hong Kong-based merchant bank.
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Unrest Grows as Economy Booms

China's massive economic-stimulus program has supported near double-digit growth, but also stoked inflation, piled up debt and fueled another unwelcome development: social unrest, The Wall Street Journal reported. In 2010, China was rocked by 180,000 protests, riots and other mass incidents—more than four times the tally from a decade earlier. That figure, reported by Sun Liping, a professor at Tsinghua University, rather than official sources, doesn't tell the whole story on the turmoil in what is now the world's second-largest economy.
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As the Gillard government digests a set of submissions on how to clean up the insolvency industry after a Senate inquiry found the Australian Securities and Investments Commission was not regulating it properly, Senator John Williams has put the spotlight back on the commission using parliamentary privilege to do so, The Sydney Morning Herald reported in a commentary.
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Europe's Banks Turn to Asia for Cash

European banks are fanning out across Asia, seeking to borrow money from wealthy individuals and cash-rich companies in a race to replace funding sources that are becoming harder and more expensive to tap, The Wall Street Journal reported. Rather than make loans and do deals, bankers from France, Italy and other countries are under orders to find sources of funding. While they are having some success, people with knowledge of their efforts say, they aren't raising enough to make a difference, leaving the banks still struggling to fund their assets.
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After months of turmoil, there finally seems to be some respite for debt laden Koutons Retail India Ltd, the Economic Times reported. The debt restructuring plan for the apparel manufacturer has been finalised and the lenders will meet next week for the final approval, according to sources familiar with the development told ET Now. The company's total debt is Rs 660 crore out of which the long term debt of Rs 500 crore that will be payable over a period of 10 years including a 2 year moratorium.
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Debt Defaulters Increasing

Financial companies saw their number of delinquent customers increase by nearly 200,000 this year as more people struggle to repay debt amid the alarming deterioration of family finances, The Korea Times reported. The default rates for households approved by commercial banks have surpassed the level shown during recent financial crises, and an increasing number of small- and medium-sized companies are sinking under a sea of red, industry figures show.
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Fashion Phoenix Arises As Fusion

A restructured Colorado Group will emerge from receivership as the newly named Fusion Retail Brands, flush with a $70 million capital expenditure and marketing war chest to drive its success in the tough retail environment, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The appearance of Fusion will help secure the future of flagship Australian brands that once made up the Colorado Group - Diana Ferrari, JAG, Mathers and Williams - as well as the company's 2200 staff working across 282 stores.
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After one of the ugliest retail downturns in two decades, corporate doctors are warning that more retailers will hit the wall in the next 12 months, The Australian reported. "This is the hardest retail environment I've seen in 20 years," Ferrier Hodgson partner and retail specialist James Stewart said. Mr Stewart expects more insolvencies among retailers in the next 12 months. PwC retail partner Stuart Harker also expects more retailers to go into voluntary administration or receivership in the next year.
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Bad Loans Hounded LBC

High levels of bad and classified loans weighed on the finances of the Makati-based LBC Development Bank, which was recently closed by the Bangko Sentral and placed under the receivership of the government’s Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp, Manila Standard Today reported. Data from the Bangko Sentral showed that LBC Development Bank, a thrift bank formerly known as the Banco Real Development Bank that was taken over by the LBC Group of Companies in 1995, suffered from high levels of bad and classified loans.
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