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.

Three Japanese auto makers slashed their earnings and production plans Friday on the back of prolonged weakness in demand, with Honda Motor Co. implementing another cutback in domestic output for this fiscal year, The Wall Street Journal reported. Due to the continued slump in auto sales, Honda said that it will reduce production in Japan for the current fiscal year through March by 56,000 vehicles. The latest cutback follows a domestic output reduction by a combined 86,000 vehicles that it already announced for the second half through March.

Private equity investors and childcare rivals are looking at making bids for the New Zealand childcare sites of ABC Learning Centres. Offers for its New Zealand assets may land as early as next week from private equity firms and child care operators, the Australian Financial Review reported today.

Japan’s corporate bankruptcies rose the most in eight years in 2008 as a deepening recession weakened sales and made it harder for businesses to get funds, Bloomberg reported. Bankruptcies climbed 11 percent from a year earlier to 15,646 cases last year, the fastest pace since 2000, Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd. said in Tokyo today. A total of 33 publicly traded companies went out of business in 2008, the most in the postwar period, the report said. Japanese companies have struggled to find investors willing to purchase their debt since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September.

Ailing South Korean automaker Ssangyong Motor, which is seeking court receivership to avoid bankruptcy, announced it has suspended production because of a lack of parts, Agence France-Presse reported. Operations at the company's only plant at Pyeongtak, 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Seoul, will stop indefinitely, the Chinese-owned firm said. A Ssangyong spokeswoman told AFP the supply of auto parts would likely resume only after a local court gives a final ruling on the firm's application for protection from creditors.