Brazil

A Florida federal bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved Brazilian bank Banco Cruzeiro do Sul SA's petition for Chapter 15 bankruptcy, a decision that will provide the bank some protection in United States courts while it continues its primary insolvency proceedings in Brazil, Law360 reported. U.S. District Court Bankruptcy Judge Laurel M. Isicoff granted recognition to the bank's petition for Chapter 15 bankruptcy, which was filed on June 5, saying that the bank's foreign representative, Eduardo Felix Bianchini, is qualified and granting the bank protection in U.S. courts.

Some large shareholders in Grupo Oi SA could sue partner Portugal Telecom SA if a debt investment made by the latter ends up in default, which could delay the companies' planned merger, a source close to the deal said, Reuters reported. Shareholders of Rio de Janeiro-based Oi want to push Portugal Telecom to take a smaller stake in the company resulting from the merger, depending on the outcome of the debt negotiations later on Tuesday, said the source, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

A Netherlands-based subsidiary of Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista's bankrupt shipbuilding and shipleasing unit OSX Brasil SA suspended payments to creditors after being granted protection by a Dutch court, Reuters reported. According to a securities filing on Thursday, OSX sought protection for its OSX WHP 1&2 Leasing BV unit after an unnamed "alleged creditor" asked a court to order payment in a way that threatened OSX's obligations to other creditors.

State-run Caixa Econômica Federa l, Brazil's largest mortgage lender, is considering options to get rid of bad loans and free up capital, including the sale of pools of distressed credit to investors, two sources said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Up to 3.2 billion reais ($1.4 billion) worth of defaulted loans could be sold to funds that specialize in dealing with distressed assets, the sources said. Alternatives under study include the sale of securities backed by pools of bad loans, according to the first source, who declined to be identified because the matter has yet to be decided.

Brazil plans to sell billions of dollars worth of offshore oil rights to state-run oil company Petrobras, a move expected to saddle the company with new costs even as its debt soars and it struggles to meet existing production targets, Reuters reported. Shares of Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as Petrobras is formally known, fell in Sao Paulo trading on Tuesday. Preferred shares, its most-traded class of stock, slipped 3.9 percent to a nearly three-week low.

A judge approved a restructuring plan for Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA, the oil company controlled by Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista, according to a statement by the Rio de Janeiro court that heard the bankruptcy proceedings, Reuters reported. The court's approval grants a quick and expected resolution to the largest bankruptcy in Latin America's history. Creditors of the company, formerly known as OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA, approved the plan on June 3. Holders of 90 percent of the Rio de Janeiro-based company's nearly 12 billion reais ($5.4 billion) in debt agreed to the plan.

Average daily oil output at bankrupt Brazilian oil company Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA fell 2.5 percent in May compared with April, according to data released by the company on Thursday, reducing the volume of oil available to pay for its restructuring, Reuters reported. Total output from the company's two producing offshore fields east of Rio de Janeiro was 424,464 barrels, or an average of 13,692 barrels a day (bpd). That compares with 421,287 barrels, or an average 14,043 bpd, in April.

Brazilian bank Banco Cruzeiro do Sul SA on Wednesday sought Chapter 15 relief in Miami, where a liquidator suspects some of its assets are located, after a Brazilian regulator took over its operations, Law360 reported. The bank’s liquidator and foreign representative, Eduardo Felix Bianchini, is asking a Florida bankruptcy judge to recognize the liquidation pending before the Central Bank of Brazil as the foreign main proceeding. The Central Bank seized Banco Cruzeiro’s and its affiliates’ assets in June 2012.

A majority of creditors of Brazil's Oleo e Gas Participacoes SA approved the terms of restructuring plan for the bankrupt oil and gas exploration and production company, its lawyers said Tuesday, Reuters reported. Oléo e Gás, formerly known as OGX Petróleo e Gás Participações SA, filed Latin America's largest-ever bankruptcy-protection petition in Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 30. "The challenge now is for the company to operate as a going concern," said Sergio Bermudes, a partner at Sergio Bermudes Advogados, which is one of the law firms representing the company.

A group of small creditors in the bankrupt former flagship company of Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista have initiated legal action against Deutsche Bank alleging the institution acted unfairly during restructuring of the oil producer’s debts, the Financial Times reported. The lawsuit, filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, alleges Deutsche Bank, the trustee of $3.6bn of defaulted notes issued by OGX Oleo e Gas Participações, favoured majority bondholders in a deal to restructure the company’s debts.