A second wave of corporate collapses is still causing headaches for Australia’s banks even after many declared the worst was behind them on the bad-debt front, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Cubbie Station, a giant cotton farm in Queensland's south-west, went into voluntary administration last month owing an estimated $320 million, including $227 million to National Australia Bank. Suncorp is believed to also have a significant exposure.

China's banking regulator issued a stern warning to banks to strictly comply with capital requirements or face sanctions, the clearest sign yet Beijing is worried about possible risks building in the country's financial system after a year of blow-out lending, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Shares of Japan Airlines Corp. slid to a record low on Tuesday on growing investor worries that Asia's largest airline by revenue could face bankruptcy as it struggles to agree pension cuts, Reuters reported. The slide was also fuelled by news that trading house Mitsui & Co sold all its 11.7 million JAL shares, raising speculation other shareholders would follow suit.

In a related story, Japan Airlines said Tuesday it obtained government approval to receive up to $1.1 billion in emergency loans aimed at preventing the money-losing company from grounding flights, The Associated Press reported. JAL signed an agreement with the state-run Development Bank of Japan after receiving government approval, a company official said on condition of anonymity, citing policy. Asia's largest airline has pressed for a government bailout and mulled over massive job cuts and other restructuring steps to avoid collapse.

Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced Tuesday that ailing Japan Airlines Corp., the nation's top carrier, can turn itself around despite share prices plummeting in recent weeks, Xinhua reported. "I still believe JAL can definitely rebuild itself if it carries out drastic restructuring, reviews its routes, replaces aging aircraft, and resolves the pension issue," Maehara said in a statement to the press on Tuesday.

A company which promised to turn Whangarei into a world centre for superyacht-building has gone into receivership, The National Business Review reported. New Zealand Yachts would continue to trade, receiver and manager Paul Sills, of Auckland law firm Hornabrook Macdonald, said. Caterpillar Financial New Zealand Ltd started the recovery process after New Zealand Yachts' loans became due on November 1, the Northern Advocate reported. The super yacht-builders came to Whangarei in 2001, promising to create up to 1000 jobs.

Struggling carrier Japan Airlines Corp plans to propose cutting pension payments to its employees and retirees by an average of roughly 40 percent, a Japanese newspaper said on Saturday, Reuters reported. JAL President Haruka Nishimatsu will present the proposal at a meeting with retirees in Tokyo on Monday, the Mainichi Shimbun said without citing any sources. Whether the company will gain the support of at least two-thirds of its former employees needed to carry out such cuts to pension payments is unclear, Mainichi added.

The future of the Unanderra-based Wideform Group of Companies is up in the air with suggestions that a major bank lender may be pulling back support for the business, the Illawarra Mercury reported. The Australian Financial Review (AFR) today reported that the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group was believed to have sought to facilitate a process whereby the business would go into voluntary administration and a new owner would be found.

New Zealand’s South Canterbury Finance is trying to recover $10 million by selling Wanaka's largest resort but the resort's owner believes his financier will be lucky to get half that, The Southland Times reported. Six companies associated with Oakridge Resort were put into receivership by South Canterbury Finance in September after defaulting on loan repayments. Oakridge developer Par Hallberg, who moved to Australia after losing control of the resort, confirmed his companies owed $10.49 million to the finance company.

Japan's transport minister said Friday that he hasn't heard from AMR Corp.'s American Airlines on the airline's intention to provide financial support to struggling carrier Japan Airlines Corp., Dow Jones reported. "No, we haven't (heard from American Airlines) ... There is no change in our policy to support JAL while (the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp.) is implementing assessment of JAL's assets," Seiji Maehara, Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, said at a regular press conference. JAL has been talking to both American and Delta Air Lines Inc.