Forest Enterprises Australia Ltd (FEA) has entered voluntary administration, with the troubled timber plantations operator bemoaning a supposed lack of patience among its bankers, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on an Australian Associated Press story. FEA, which had expected to report an operating loss for the half year ended December 31, 2009, said on Wednesday that its revenue over the past 18 months had been hurt by the impact of the global financial crisis on markets for forestry investment, timber and export wood fibre.

The Securities Commission says there may be more legal action against four Lombard Finance and Investments directors, including former National Party cabinet minister Sir Douglas Graham, Radio New Zealand reported. Sir Douglas and the other directors, former Labour Party cabinet minister, Bill Jeffries, Michael Reeves, and Lawrence Bryant face penalties of up to $500,000 each for allegedly misleading investors. The civil action by the Securities Commission comes two years after Lombard Finance was placed into receivership, owing $127 million to about 4400 investors.

France and Germany traditionally have been the “motor” of the European Union, but relations between the two countries are badly strained over the Greek debt crisis, which is just the latest example of a new German willingness to resist the demands of Europe and assert its self-interest under Chancellor Angela Merkel, The New York Times reported. The European Union is facing a serious crisis over financing and its currency, the euro.

Yuan forwards fell by the most in three weeks after President Hu Jintao said China would follow its own path in reforming the nation’s currency policy. China won’t yield to outside pressure on the exchange rate and any changes will be “based on its own economic and social- development needs,” Hu told Barack Obama yesterday during a visit to Washington, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Non-deliverable forwards rose on April 9 to an 11-week high on mounting bets for an imminent shift in yuan policy. Bonds rose after the central bank kept bill yields stable at an auction.

Japan Airlines Corp., restructuring under a 900 billion yen ($9.7 billion) state-backed plan, shouldn’t allow government aid to distort competition, the International Air Transport Association said. “Restructuring has to be fast and painful,” IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said, BusinessWeek reported. JAL, which was delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange in February, is planning to cut almost a third of its workforce, slash flights and retire older planes over three years to return to profit. All Nippon Airways Co.

High profile dairy farmer Allan Crafar says he will stay on his family land at Reporoa, despite an offer from receivers that was due to expire at the end of today, The New Zealand Herald reported. It was not clear whether that meant the end of the business day, however it appeared that the property was still being used by the family at around 6pm this evening. A spokesman for receivers KordaMentha said they were following a process but would not provide any further details.

Entellect Solutions’ plans to become a major player in the education software sector has suffered a set back, with wholly owned subsidiary MXL Consolidated being placed into voluntary administration, Computerworld Australia reported. The deal is a major blow as MXL, a provider of web-based student administration and curriculum management software, is responsible for conducting the significant majority of trading operations of the Entellect group.

The Indian government plans to introduce a separate legislation to speed up insolvency proceedings and help distressed firms wind up operations quickly. The new law will shorten the legal processes involving insolvency operations of small and medium entities, The Economic Times reported. The government is keen to make bankruptcy proceedings a time-bound procedure. “Speedy winding up of sick enterprises, particularly small and medium ones, is an area we need to improve,” said a senior official in the ministry of corporate affairs.

Air India is entering a crucial phase of its long-awaited turnaround that could determine whether the venerable airline escapes from massive losses or slides into decrepitude, The Wall Street Journal reported. For the past 11 months, Arvind Jadhav, chairman of state-owned parent company National Aviation Company of India Ltd., has been pushing restructuring measures he says are needed to stem a steep decline in the carrier's fortunes caused by the global recession, payments for new aircraft, an entrenched staff, a botched merger and increasing competition. Among Mr.

The International Islamic Financial Market, the Bahrain-based organization seeking to set standards for Islamic securities, may issue new global guidelines to facilitate the sale of Shariah-compliant bonds, an official at the industry body said, BusinessWeek reported. “There is no one, cross-border, common benchmark for sukuk,” IIFM’s Chief Executive Officer Ijlal Ahmed Alvi said in an interview in Dubai last week.